I note that numerous ratepayers over the years have themselves spent many multiples of this sum on consultants and legal fees just attempting to get the Council to actually follow the planning and other laws.

We must also put it in perspective and keep in mind that this group, consisting of only five senior managers, are already costing the ratepayers of Albury in excess of $1 million in wages every year between them. On its current trajectory, this will continue for at least the next four years.

I would therefore suggest that Albury Council is acting with due diligence by ensuring that the ratepayers of Albury are getting both value for money and the best possible outcome from this top-heavy management structure.

The devil is always in the detail. I therefore give tentative approval to this action, subject to the detail of the parameters that the council ultimately sets for the terms of the review.

There was great attendance at a meeting at the Rutherglen Golf Clubhouse on Thursday evening where the progress of action to get trucks out of the main street of Rutherglen was reported on.

Some concerns expressed that temporary measures to divert trucks around Rutherglen in the immediate future may end up being viewed as a permanent fix.

It is up to the people of Rutherglen to work together with the Indigo Shire and government representatives as a united group to ensure that a permanent bypass remains a top priority.

That being said, we must all realise that any action that can be undertaken now to re-route at least some of the trucks can only mean a safer main street for residents and visitors alike.

The need to do something is immediate, and to not do all we can with the money we have on offer at the moment, is to continue to put our school children, the elderly, mothers with prams, and the disabled at risk on a daily basis.

Those who have worked tirelessly to at least get some action from government deserve and need our support and we need to all look at what is best for the community as a whole.

With the constant blaming of the other by both Spring Street and Canberra (‘North East train funds still going around in circles between federal and Victorian governments’, The Border Mail, May 26), it seems to me the best way to get for a government to commit to fixing the track is for the Victorian Government to relieve the ARTC of responsibility by seeking to cancelling the lease agreement.

There is at least a precedent to do so: Melbourne’s East-West Link.

I also note the remarks by Mr Mrdak (The Border Mail, May 26) about the ARTC wish to extend the lease to 99 years from the current 45.

I have to question why that should happen when they couldn’t do a proper job the first time and god knows how many subsequent times.

However, I doubt a cancellation of contract and/or proper funding will happen, even with the Inland Rail project.

But if the lease contract was to be cancelled then the Victorian government of the day could actually put in the more suitable level of money and actual time to bring the track up to standard.