Convenor and former mayor Ian Deegan said he was also confident the council would take the group seriously.

That was made clear, he said, during last week’s meeting called to discuss issues such as the council’s economic management and lack of consultation.

“The phone calls still haven’t stopped, many people want to be involved,” Mr Deegan said.

The first meeting of the re-launched Wodonga Ratepayers’ Association will be held at the German Austrian Australian Club on March 19 at 7pm.

The previous incarnation disbanded in 2010 after three years because of a lack of community support.

One of those who helped form that group was Cr Mike Fraser, who has backed the association’s return.

Mr Deegan said he was still overwhelmed by the amount of support he was getting, but this needed to continue to make the association effective.

“It’s important that we get a lot of people along so we can establish a committee willing to serve the people of Wodonga,” he said.

“And we’ve got to have the right mix of people involved.”

Mr Deegan said he was confident that could be achieved given the success of last week’s meeting of more than 200 people.

“There were so many people who wanted to stay and get it going, but it was too late at night,” he said.

Mr Deegan said he felt strongly this new group would not go down the same path as the old one simply because of the renewed interest demonstrated by all the emails and phone calls he had received in the past few days.

Mr Deegan said it was important that people who turned out next month focused on issues that affected the whole city.