Wodonga Council has recommended ditching the local holiday in favour of the metropolitan one from 2017, following overwhelming support from the community.

Councillors will have their say at Monday’s meeting.

Wodonga Gold Cup has been a public holiday for the past two years.

But a survey of about 500 earlier this year found 64 per cent were against a holiday for the Wodonga event rather than the Melbourne Cup, 27 per cent were in favour of the local holiday and nine per cent did not mind.

The 2015 gold cup attendance of 6131 was 160 per cent higher than the non-public holiday in 2013, but just 33 per cent of people surveyed attended themselves.

Some 55 per cent of schools also preferred the Melbourne Cup holiday.

“Schools commented that absenteeism was on the rise around Melbourne Cup day, regardless of the public holiday,” the council report stated.

“Common themes in the feedback were the inconvenience and confusion of having a separate holiday to the rest of the state and region and the effect this had on trading, childcare, schooling and work arrangements.”

Positive feedback included belief the Wodonga Gold Cup was a great event for the city’s identity and the Melbourne Cup was too far away to attend.

Racing Wodonga general manager Tom O’Connor requested the council support a five-year extension to the holiday from 2017 to 2021.

He was not giving up on the holiday, despite the council recommendation.

“Racing Wodonga has complete confidence in the mayor and sitting councillors to make a decision in the best interest of the city,” he said.

“The event has exceeded the club’s expectations and the support by the community has been fantastic in the past two years.” 

The turf club’s submission to the council outlined its significant growth since the local Friday public holiday and the important role it played for the racing industry on the Border.

The event had raised about $450,000 on previous public holidays.

“Racing Wodonga has significant plans for the development of the race course precinct in the next five years. – the cup holiday is an integral part to this development,” Mr O’Connor said.

“The club welcomes direct feedback and the door is always open.

“We run a business here too.”

The Wodonga Gold Cup holiday will remain for 2016, in line with the previous agreement.