Ward 4 Labor councillors Mark Greenhill and Anton von Schulenburg discuss the new council in Springwood on Monday.
The Labor and Liberal parties will dominate Blue Mountains City Council for the next four years, winning nine of 12 spots following the declaration of candidates on Sunday.
The gains by the major parties came at the expense of the Greens who only got one councillor elected — Geordie Williamson in Ward 2 — down from three in the last term.
While the Liberal Party won more votes across the Mountains, it is the Labor Party who will have the most councillors around the table after a stunning result in Ward 4 saw them get two councillors elected.
Glenbrook resident Anton von Schulenburg will join Mark Greenhill after the deputy mayor secured 42.07 per cent of the primary vote, up from 25 per cent at the last election. The last time a candidate got their running mate elected in the Blue Mountains was in the early 1980s.
“This result means one thing. It means that Anton and I can set about delivering on the promises we have made.
“This includes reforming waste services, introducing green bins if we get support from the State Government and continuing the fight for rates justice in Ward 4,” said Clr Greenhill.
The other Labor councillors are Don McGregor, who narrowly edged out the Greens in Ward 1, Romola Hollywood in Ward 2 and Mick Fell in Ward 3.
The Liberal Party also enjoyed its best-ever performance at a council level, winning a spot in Ward 1 for the first time and topping the poll as well.
It also received its highest ever vote in Wards 2 and 3.
The Greens were left to wonder what went wrong with Ward 1 candidate Brent Hoare saying it was “very regrettable not to be able to represent the Greens”.
“We had held hopes of working with independents to break the Liberal/Labor coalition in the Blue Mountains and will instead be holding them to account over the next four years,” he said.
“The much more narrow make-up of the new council is hardly representative of the diversity of views held by the wider Mountains community, which is disappointing.
“I have to wonder how many of those who voted Liberal still feel it was a good idea in the wake of last week’s announcements of 1800 job losses and $1.7 billion cuts to education, and the unleashing of the coal seam gas industry by the State Liberal Government.”
The new council only has two independents in Ward 1 councillor Robert Stock and returning councillor Brendan Luchetti in Ward 3.
Labor’s Romola Hollywood is the only female councillor while newly-elected Liberal candidate Brendan Christie is the youngest councillor at 21-years-old.