TENSIONS over the fate of Wodonga’s Hunchback Hill are set to reignite in August.
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The council has revealed it will release its much anticipated revised hills plan at its meeting that month.
It will come a year after there was a revolt against the city from some residents upset over an initial strategy.
Their concerns, which focused particularly on mountain bike riding on Hunchback Hill, helped push the council to stage a series of workshops in March.
A report outlining the timetable for releasing the fresh report was presented to Monday night’s council meeting, with no councillors opting to comment on it.
Flagging of the report’s production comes as an audit on Hunchback Hill and the impact of activity is still being completed.
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning last year ordered the hill’s overseer Parklands Albury Wodonga to commission the independent analysis.
Parklands chairman Daryl Betteridge said on Tuesday that the auditor had required surgery for a back injury which had delayed the completion of his findings.
“I honestly couldn’t say,” Mr Betteridge said when asked when he expected the audit to be finalised.
He hopes it may emerge before the August council meeting.
No mountain bike competitions have been held on Hunchback Hill since the audit was ordered.
Albury Wodonga Mountain Bikers president Michael Ross said maintenance had also been discontinued at the request of the department.
“The audit will come back and give everybody a clearer picture of what can be done, what’s allowed to be done and what needs to be done,” Mr Ross said.
He suggested there may be areas that could need to close or be realigned and another outcome may be a push for drainage improvements.
In response to the council outlining its next move, the Save Hunchback Hill group hit out with a post in capital letters.
“WODONGA COUNCIL - YOU DID NOT CONSULT THE COMMUNITY!” it posted on Monday.
“HUNCHBACK HILL IS A PLACE FOR THE PROTECTION OF ENDANGERED FLORA AND FAUNA - NOT SUITABLE FOR MOUNTAIN BIKES - DAY OR NIGHT!”
The group urged its supporters to tell the council “we never wanted Hunchback Hill 'activated'!”.