Meet the new faces elected to Bathurst Regional Council

Only four of the eight incumbents on the ballot paper were able to retain their spots on Bathurst Regional Council, with the other vacancies being filled by candidates with no prior council experience.

READ MORE: 'A great mix': New councillors ready to work together for Bathurst

Ben Fry was not only the first of the new faces to be elected, but his team attracted the most votes overall.

Thanks to that, his number two, Kirralee Burke, was also elected.

By her own admission, she didn't set out in this campaign expecting to be elected, as she joined the ticket to support Cr Fry.

However, she is ready to take on the challenge, and is looking forward to representing women and young people.

"That was a huge driving force for myself putting my hand up for Ben," she said.

"... I would be lying if I didn't say there was some hesitation, but the main reason that I ended up committing to being Ben's number two was for the simple fact that, if you don't put your hand up, who's going to?

"The council needs more women, the council needs younger people, and I fit that. If I'm not going to put my hand up and be part of the change, then who is going to be?"

The achievements of the Fry ticket were replicated by Robert 'Stumpy' Taylor's team, with himself and number two Andrew 'Struthy' Smith being elected.

Cr Taylor has had the security of knowing within days of the election that he was almost certain to become a councillor, but for Cr Smith there was a two-week wait to see if he would join his mate.

The born and bred Bathurst man said he is "really excited" about becoming a councillor and pursuing a number of important issues.

"There's a lot of things across the board which was all highlighted in our campaign, which was obviously the new medical centre, water security, there's access through Hereford Street, and there's Mount Panorama as well," he said.

The final new face on council will be Marg Hogan, who also secured a strong number of votes early in the counting process.

She, too, is looking forward to being a voice for women and making positive changes to the council.

"I made the decision to run because I want positive change in our political scene and I'm not just talking about local government," she said.

"All our levels of government need good representation, diverse representation, so there was no turning back."

The new faces will join incumbents Warren Aubin, Graeme Hanger, Jess Jennings and Ian North.

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