Anna Speedie was reacting to a report presented to Monday night's Wodonga Council meeting containing feedback on the proposal for a pedestrian-friendly stretch from the post office to Sesame Lane.

The report told of community confusion and a survey which found 120 of 226 respondents opposed a trial of a shared zone.

Cr Speedie said the council needed to reconstruct that area of High Street and it made commonsense to have a trial concurrently. 

"I think it is sad that it is being misquoted, misused and misrepresented in our community,"  Cr Speedie said of the shared zone.

"I would hate to miss the opportunity to test what will be very expensive parts of infrastructure for us to put down.

"It is also fairly sad, but maybe it is representative that we actually contacted and went out and touched thousands of people and asked for their feedback and had 226 people respond.

"Either people are extremely happy with the notion of trialling that or there is apathy out there."

Cr Speedie said it was clear "there is a complete misunderstanding about what the trial is about and the notion of what it provides".

She rejected the idea of car parks being lost, talked up safety benefits for pedestrians and saw congestion as a sign the city was getting busier and  "if you're a retailer that's a good thing".

"People in cars don't spend money, people out of cars are the ones who spend money," Cr Speedie said.

"Having traffic move slowly is a good thing for safety, it is a good thing for our community, seeing them race through High Street isn't the answer."

The 20km/h figure was not mentioned by any councillor with former mayor John Watson applauding the opportunity for beautification.

"Particularly on a hot summer's day, it is a pretty bleak place...and this can improve that,” Cr Watson said.

Colleague Mike Fraser acknowledged the survey finding.

"There is a significant proportion of the community that has negative feedback, there is also equally important a significant proportion that are in favour of actually having a trial," Cr Fraser said.

He added it would be the council chosen at October's election which would decide the fate of the trial.

The council report rejected claims that the section of High Street affected by the shared zone already had been lavished with cash.

It stated less than $5000 had been spent on it via line marking tied to lane and parking changes.