Albury Council management planned to close-off a street without telling its residents

A recommendation to shut an end of Wilkinson Street that links Glenroy to central Albury via Gap Road went to this week's council meeting.

Councillors were shocked to find residents had not been told of the plan, with city projects chief Andrew Lawson saying consultation would have happened after it was approved.

"Certainly if the recommendation had of gone through...that would have been undertaken prior to any works being done," he said.

Councillor Darren Cameron asked when had the council decided it would consult after a decision was made?

"That is just ridiculous, I don't understand how this situation has arose, I don't understand how we can have a motion recommending that we vote to close the street when none of the residents have been consulted or specifically told that what's being considered by council," Cr Cameron said.

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Councillor John Stuchbery, who got the closure motion deferred for consultation, said he would be "mildly upset" if he drove home to find his street being closed.

"The staff's suggestion that they will do their community consultation after we've made the decision is frankly the wrong way round," Cr Stuchbery said.

The Border Mail visited Wilkinson Street on Thursday afternoon and residents it spoke to had no idea a plan was ready to turn their street into a dead end to stop it being used as a rat run.

The closure of Wilkinson Street at the Tenbrink Street end is estimated to cost $50,000 and would be in collaboration with other measures, including cutting the speed limit on Ryan Road and Tenbrink Street from 60km/h to 50km/h and rerouting the bus service that uses Wilkinson Street.

Wilkinson Street resident Stacey Holland, who lives near Tenbrink Street, said a closure "wouldn't bother me, it would stop the traffic and cars going down the road at 100km/h".

Retiree Eddie Patten said "there's a lot of oldies in the street and they wouldn't be able to walk to the end of the street to get the bus".

Arthur Goodall wanted the street to stay open, but another resident Jeff Steele welcomed the closure, saying "there's a lot of hoons around here".