WITH the bulk of first preference votes counted on election night, Len Roberts said he was feeling confident of gaining a position on the new MidCoast Council based on the expected quota.

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“I would like to thank everyone in the Myall Coast area for their wonderful support, it is indeed humbling to have that,” Len said.

“To receive the second highest number of votes on the day is a huge achievement for my supporters.”

Based on the preliminary count completed on election night, it is likely that former Taree Councillors Brad Christensen and Peter Epov, former Great Lakes Mayor, Jan McWilliams, and Country Labor’s Dr David Keegan and Claire Pontin, will also win one of the 11 available positions.

But with around 18,000 pre poll and postal votes still left to count, it will be at least a week before the final results are known.

Len said, “It will all come down to preferences.”

Early results indicate many voters remained loyal to their former Council areas.

Len topped the polls in the Myall Coast Region, securing a combined total of 45 percent of all first preference votes cast at Bulahdelah, Hawks Nest, North Arm Cove and Tea Gardens polling places.

Len also polled consistently across the Forster/Tuncurry booths.

Ungrouped local candidate, Malcolm Motum, received 14 percent of first preference votes from Hawks Nest and 16 percent from Tea Gardens.

The Labor group pulled consistent results across the board, topping the polls based on first preference votes counted so far.

Jan McWilliams scored strongly at Forster polling places, and as expected, former Taree Councillors Brad Christensen, Peter Epov and Kathryn Bell dominated at the Taree booths.

Securing local representation for Gloucester residents was always going to be a challenge, given the population of the former shire.

Former Deputy Mayor, Katheryn Smith, campaigned hard across the entire MidCoast region and topped the Gloucester polls, but will need to wait and see if preferences will get her over the line.

The results of last Saturday’s MidCoast Council election, once finalised, will restore democratically elected representatives to local office, bringing a year of contention to an end.