Gisborne District Council has eight new councillors, out of 14. Photo: RNZ/Tom Kitchin
The region with the highest proportion of Māori in the country now has Māori wards for its council for the first time.
This term there are 14 seats around the table of Te Kaunihera o Te Tairāwhiti - the Gisborne District Council.
Māori ward councillors have five seats, with eight general ward councillors and the mayor.
And while the new councillors were being welcomed, they expected to be in their infancy at the table as they faced the region's issues.
Census data showed 52 percent of people in Tairāwhiti identified as Māori, while in Aotearoa as a whole only about 16 per cent of the wider population identified as Māori.
Educator and tikanga specialist Rhonda Tibble (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Ngāti Kahungngu) was the highest polling Māori ward councillor, with more than 800 votes.
She expected there would be a new paradigm of thinking at the council table.
"I think that's the most exciting high-value that the five of us bring to the table, is a Māori world view, and essentially a Tairāwhiti world view because all of us, our Māoritanga comes clearly - is built inside of our Tairāwhiti whakapapa."
Rhonda Tibble Photo: RNZ/ Tom Kitchin
But Tibble said there would also be a lot to learn for those in Māori seats.
"It's the first time - so we are in our infancy - in comparison to the other side which of course is quite elderly in its approach - if you take it from the historical fact that that's always been the case."
Mayor Rehette Stoltz, who was reelected for her second term, said she was excited about the contribution the Māori ward councillors would make.
Gisborne mayor Rehette Stoltz says the environment will be a strong focus for the council Photo: Supplied / LDR
She had spoken to the new councillors and they had expressed that a special focus on the environment was important to them.
"We will have a clear focus on looking after our environment better and they'll bring that view to the table and be representatives of that Te Ao Māori view."
But the environment was not the only huge issue at play - people on the streets of Gisborne had clear views on what they want the new council to do - it came down to housing and roads.
"Stop being so apathetic and get the town cleaned up - the roads are a disgusting state - I've lived here all my life and they're absolutely appalling," one woman said.
"Housing for people - there's too many people actually looking for housing in Gisborne and it's harder and harder every year and I think they need to focus on that," a man said.
"Kāinga Ora has built new houses, so the new housing - the council has to give approval on it - they take too long," a woman said, whose family was waiting for a home.
"Kāinga Ora comes back to the families and they say 'we're waiting for council to give the code so everything's safe for you guys to move into there ... it takes about more than three months, it's way too long."
Eight of the 14 councillors are new and all are undergoing an intensive two week induction.
