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 continues to out-poll the no vote and is now a certainty.
On Wednesday, September 25 the vote was almost 62 per cent for the yes campaign and 38 per cent for the no vote of the valid votes.
The total vote counted was 209,043 with a total number of both residential and non-residential electors enrolled in the area being 260,408 people.
Total informal votes has been less than five per cent.
The referendum question also asked if residents wanted to reduce the wards from five wards to three.
The new ward system will take effect 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.
Meanwhile, counting for the 15 councillor positions continues.
Postal votes are still being received until 6pm Friday, September 27.
See separate story here: postal-votes-almost-counted
Merilyn Vale
This is a seriously poor outcome – with less representation residents reduce their access to information and at the same time the size of each area will make effective coverage by a councillor in the hours for which they are remunerated impossible. This outcome increases the motive of the State Government to reduce participation by genuinely concerned residents whose on the ground knowledge is always the way to the best outcomes in local government.
It is to be hoped that the new Council will go ahead with the introduction of precincts which in turn should provide better transfer of information in both directions – residents to councillors and reverse.