The only woman elected in Tauranga’s new council says she is “sad to be the only woman” and it feels like the city is “going backwards”.

Jen Scoular is set to become the Mauao/Mount Maunganui ward councillor, receiving 1964 votes in the preliminary results for the Tauranga City Council election which were released yesterday afternoon.

The results show Mahé Drysdale is still set to become Tauranga Mayor with 16,178 votes.

The preliminary results include all votes received until midday on Saturday. Special votes have not been included.

Two former councillors have been re-elected in the wards, preliminary results show. Pāpāmoa ward councillor Steve Morris was part of the sacked 2019 council. Arataki ward councillor Rick Curach will serve his seventh term on council after missing out in the 2019 election.

Scoular tells the Bay of Plenty Times she's “thrilled” to have the support of her local community and thanks them for electing her.

She went for a run and a swim in the ocean yesterday to celebrate her win.

“I’m looking forward to supporting Mahé [Drysdale] as our mayor to create a strong and capable team to govern our city.”

However, Scoular says she's “sad to be the only woman” on a council of 10 in a “modern city”.

“It really feels like we’re going backwards and I don’t want that for Tauranga.

“I think there were some really good female candidates and I would certainly like to understand better what stopped them being supported.”

Scoular says diversity means having a “good range of voices” at the table and research shows having an equal split on gender around decision-making tables “is actually where you get the best decisions”.

Te Papa ward councillor Rod Taylor.

Te Papa ward councillor Rod Taylor - who received 1249 votes - says in his view, the CBD has “a lot of negative press” recently.

“My priority is concentrating on getting the CBD up and going again.

In his view: “I think they’re [the elected council] probably the right sort of mix that we can go ahead and carry on with the advances that have been made so far by the commissioners without having some of the troubles that they had in the last elected council.”

Tauriko ward councillor Marten Rozeboom.

Tauriko ward councillor Marten Rozeboom - who received 2134 votes - says it's a “privilege” to be elected, but he's disappointed with the overall participation rate.

The voter turnout rate was 37.88 per cent as of Saturday. This compared to 40.28 per cent in the 2019 election.

“We are supposed to represent the views of the Tauranga residents, and if they don’t participate and select who they want, it just makes our job more challenging.”

Rozeboom says the biggest concern was fixing Barkes Corner and the Tauriko roundabout “so we can actually get in and out of here”.

He says many major roads in Tauriko were NZ Transport Agency roads “so will obviously have to work closely with NZTA to improve them”.

Welcome Bay ward councillor Hautapu Baker. Photo / Alex Cairns.

Welcome Bay ward councillor Hautapu Baker - who received 2498 votes - says he is “humbled and grateful” to have “such an overwhelming level of support” from the community.

Baker hopes to create more opportunities for community cohesion and connection.

“No one does community better than the Welcome Bay ward and if we can enhance that sense of community, then it’s going to increase the well-being of everybody that lives in our ward.”

Bethlehem ward councillor Kevin “Herb” Schuler.

Bethlehem ward councillor Kevin “Herb” Schuler - who received 2307 votes - says he feels for the other Bethlehem candidates because “everyone worked hard” and ran a positive campaign.

“I’m pretty grateful the voters of Bethlehem have shown faith and trust in me.”

He's looking forward to meeting with the “diverse range” of groups in Bethlehem.

“So when I am at work, I’ve got good ability to communicate back and let people know what we’re doing and be held accountable for the decisions we make.”

Matua-Otumoetai ward councillor Glen Crowther.

Matua-Otūmoetai ward councillor Glen Crowther - who received 2460 votes - says he's “pleasantly surprised” but also “had a bit of a feeling that I might get there”.

Crowther is pleased “a couple of old hands” have been re-elected to guide those who did not have councillor experience.

He says losing the swimming pool in Otūmoetai - proposed to close in 2017 - is a “critical concern” for a lot of people.

“That’s an immediate action point that I’d be keen to follow up on.”

Crowther says people are also concerned about the “looming rates increases” and council debt levels.

Arataki ward councillor Rick Curach.

Arataki ward councillor Rick Curach - who received 1859 votes - says he's “quite surprised” to be elected “because I didn’t use social media” for his campaign.

“I thought that would be a disadvantage to me... it’s quite refreshing in a way.”

He says his main concern is around the long-term plan and the affordability of rates.

Pāpāmoa ward councillor Steve Morris.

Pāpāmoa ward councillor Steve Morris - who received 1766 votes - says he's “humbled and honoured to be returned by my community”.

Asked what he plans to do differently this term, Morris says to advocate for the removal of the “double standard” in Pāpāmoa - “the unfair targeted rate on Pāpāmoa East that is three times higher than any other suburb in the city”.

Asked what he hopes to achieve for his ward, Morris says to advocate for rescaling and reprioritising CBD spending and directing it towards transport infrastructure “the whole city is crying out for” - particularly Pāpāmoa residents “who have to travel further and longer in traffic”.

Te Awanui ward councillor Mikaere Sydney - who received 1429 votes - was contacted for comment.

-Bay of Plenty Times.