THE Rural City of Wangaratta Council for the next four years is starting to take shape, with Tania Maxwell and Dave Fuller joining unopposed candidates Irene Grant and Harry Bussell as the latest to be elected to their respective wards.
Both Ms Maxwell and Mr Fuller are in two-candidate wards and have received the required quota to be elected.
Following the counting of votes in the Appin Ward, former state MP Ms Maxwell won by 295 votes with a total of 1563 (55.21%) over fellow candidate and former councillor (2016-2020) Mark Currie with 1268 votes (44.79%).
In the Bullawah Ward Mr Fuller, who has served on council from 2016 to 2024, was elected with 1820 votes (73.89%), to former councillor (in 1980s) Brian Fox who tallied 643 votes (26.11%).
Preferential vote counting is continuing in the three remaining wards of Wareena, Yarrunga and Ovens, with the progressive vote as of 3pm Thursday being:
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Ovens Ward: Harvey Benton 1207 votes (47.26%), Jennifer Garrett 747 votes (29.25%), and Rebecca Shenfield 600 votes (23.49%).
Wareena Ward: Ashlee Fitzpatrick 1243 votes (47.26%), Peter Siperki 787 votes (29.92%), Mel Paul 600 votes (22.81%).
Yarrunga Ward: Julian Fidge 777 votes (31.73%), Allison Winters 693 votes (28.3%), Anne Dunstan 551 votes (22.50%) and Joanne Pane 428 votes (17.48%).
Following the counting of first preference votes, if no candidate has reached more than 50pc, the candidate with the lowest number of votes will be struck out and preferences will be distributed to the remaining candidates.
Provisional results in these three wards could be known as early as Friday morning, with the Victorian Electoral Commission scheduled to declare the new council elect on Monday afternoon.
Cr-elect Maxwell said she was "absolutely so excited" and it will be a fantastic four years and she is looking forward to working with the other councillors.
"I know I have always been very passionate about child maternal health and that is under the remit of local council," she said.
"I will be really keen to get my hands on the knowledge of prior councillors and documentation to see what we can do to improve services, how we can encourage access to resources, mainly for the prevention of post-natal depression.
"I would really like to liaise with councillors to see how we can bring more events to Wangaratta so people can attend an event and stay the night, then visit other attractions in the region."
Cr-elect Maxwell acknowledged that people are ambitious going into a new role but noted that "you have to get in there and look at what's already in place, what has worked well and what hasn't worked well".
"You have to look at all the portfolios that council has and I do think I'm coming in with a common sense approach," she said.
"It's important to have feedback from the community and they need to drive this, and I can't wait to get out and have conversations with people and hear what they would like to see."
Cr-elect Fuller was singing from a similar hymn book, highlighting the need to listen to the community about a sustainable future for council.
He hopes there is an injection of funds from federal and state governments and projects like the Creative Arts Precinct and others could be included in the selection process.
"It's about community priorities and the pressures on roads and hospital funding might come first," he said.
"It would be great to see a variety of sporting events come to town and perhaps the Big Bash cricket and something outside the box that could draw a different crowd and include more people in the community."
Wangaratta's local business sector has been an interest of Cr-elect Fuller and he would like the economic development team consolidate recent initiatives.
"What are the business needs now, where are they hurting and are the labour workforce issues still ongoing or are there new directions that are causing sideways pressures on businesses," she said.
"Then we need to work on the best way to respond to these obstacles."
He congratulated all the candidates for putting their hands up especially those new to the process.
The pair will join King River Ward candidate Harry Bussell and Warby Ward candidate Irene Grant who were elected unopposed.
