The yes vote in the referendum asking residents if they were in favour of reducing the number of Central Coast councillors from 15 to 9 out-polled the no vote in all but four of the more than 100 polling booths.
The final count saw the yes vote win by 61.74 per cent against the no vote of 38.26 per cent.
Only booths at Umina Public School, Wagstaffe, Mooney Mooney and Mangrove Mountain voted in the majority for the current arrangement of 15 councillors.
The total vote counted was 212,315 votes with 4.47 per cent informal with a total number of both residential and non-residential electors enrolled in the area being 260,408 people.
The referendum question asked if residents wanted to reduce councillors from 15 to nine and the wards from five wards to three.
The new reduced councillors and ward system will take affect from the 2028 council elections.
Between now and then, the newly elected 15 councillors will have to oversee the arrangement of the five wards down to three wards and plan for their own reduction down to nine councillors.
The outcome of the referendum is binding on the Council.
Most candidates in the election advocated for a no vote but the Administrator Rik Hart said he considered nine councillors to be a much more effective number to govern the community.
“I strongly believe that reducing the number of councillors should lead to greater cohesion, less disruption and improved decision-making,” he said in August.
He also said that reducing the number of councillors would lead to at least $1.3M saved during the term of the Council.
“This is a significant saving that could be re-invested into community services,“ Hart said.
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