WODONGA Council has balked at a federal government request for an earlier transfer of its remaining land holdings on Gateway Island.
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The majority of land is owned by the federal finance department following the wind-up of the Albury-Wodonga Corporation with land uses including a quarry, cattle grazing and another parcel leased by Parklands Albury-Wodonga.
A deal was struck with Albury-Wodonga Corporation more than two decades ago to transfer the entire Gateway Lakes site to council.
The quarry operator's present leases expires next year, but has two lease extension options up to 2031.
Some land on Gateway Lakes has already been transferred to council including land which has been used for music concerts and car shows.
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The council this week agreed not to take ownership of remaining parcels of land with a workshop involving the federal government, councillors and staff and other stakeholders to "investigate the risks, challenges and opportunities" associated with any transfer.
Mayor Anna Speedie said the area was an "absolute mess" and likened the federal government offer for the land to a storyline from the ABC television comedy show, Utopia.
"It feels a little a bit like Utopia in terms of how all the government departments have put the structures together," she said.
"This is a strategic piece of land that will have inter-generational consequences and impacts on our community, our tourism, our environment and our economics.
"It is really important we actually get this right."
Councillors were to be excluded from the workshop until Cr Ron Mildren succeeded with a minor amendment to the motion presented to them for them to be present.
"There are a whole range of things about this which we simply don't have enough information about right now," he said.
"It is important we know and understand what the quarry licence requirements are, what the rehabilitation requirements are, what constraints and controls there are, what the obligations on council are in regards to other events like flooding.
"It is important we go down the path of understanding exactly what is we are stepping into."
Cr Danny Lowe said some alarm bells were raised with him when the land was offered up in December and an answer wanted by the end of January.
"The timeframes don't seem suitable for the way government moves normally," he said.
There is also the potential for Aboriginal land claims and other cultural heritage values remain unknown.
Council also has no budget allocation for due diligence required to fully understand the federal government offer.