THE new Surf Coast Shire council has taken shape, with all councilors provisionally elected today (Thursday 7 November).

New faces will make up almost half of the nine-member council, and five of the incumbent councilors will be re-elected.

The Victorian Electoral Commission calculated the distribution of votes and preferences for this year’s local council elections at its Surf Coast Shire electoral office in Torquay, with several candidates or their representatives in attendance.

The provisionally elected councilors are listed below in alphabetical order by ward and in the order in which they were elected by preferences.

Otway Range District:

• LIbby Stapleton
• Leon Walker
• Mike Bodsworth.

Torquay District:

• Liz Pattison
• Rebecca Bourke
• Paul Barker.

Winchelsea District:

• Joel Grist
• Tony Phelps
• Adrian Schönfelder.

These councilors will not be formally elected until the VEC declaration ceremony for Surf Coast Shire, which will take place at the shire council chambers in Torquay tomorrow (Friday 8 November) at 11am.

The City of Greater Geelong vote count calculation will take place this Saturday 9 November and councilors will declare themselves on Tuesday 12 November at 11am

For more information, go to vec.vic.gov.au/voting/2024-local-council-elections