THE NSW Small Business Minister says Albury is the "most impacted business community" in the state due to COVID-19 restrictions and has flagged the need for "tailor-made solutions".
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Damien Tudehope was speaking on Friday afternoon after hearing from 20 people involved in the retail, accommodation, manufacturing, finance and building sectors.
They told him how employees could not attend work from beyond the blue zone and they were suffering losses with consumers unable to travel to Albury from Wodonga.
Albury mayor Kevin Mack also called for the border bubble to revert to 50 kilometres as it was before this week's changes.
NSW Small Business Commissioner Chris Lamont accompanied Mr Tudehope and he will compile feedback and suggestions for change in a paper for the minister to present to Cabinet colleagues.
"It's clear that there is a fall in the customer base of the businesses in Albury so that commercial zone has been fractured to some degree, so we need to potentially find a solution which allows that to recover," Mr Tudehope said.
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The owner of Timmy G's skate shop Tim Goddard met Mr Tudehope earlier in Dean Street and told how he had not seen partner and daughters, aged three and one, in Bright for two weeks because of the border shutdown.
"He can't go home because if he comes back to Albury he's got to isolate, so he's effectively been separated from his family," Mr Tudehope said.
"These are personal problems and personal stories that we can't ignore."
Mr Goddard said he was able to stay with his parents in East Albury, having only moved to Bright last year.
"It's just not fair, I think a lot of these North East Victorian towns should be able to come into Albury, there's no cases in these areas," he said.
Albury councillor Murray King told The Border Mail he believed the decision by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to tighten Murray River crossings showed the state government had no concern for the region's economy.
"They don't care about Albury, they care about Sydney and we are sacrificial," Cr King said.
"They're sacrificing our economy to protect themselves.
Mr Tudehope said he rejected Cr King's "notion entirely".
"The government for acts for all the people of NSW and we need to protect the health of everyone in our state, whether it's people in Albury, whether it's people in Sydney," he said.
Albury Northside Chamber of Commerce deputy chair Barry Young, who owns the Essential Ingredient homeware shop in Dean Street, was at the forum with Mr Tudehope and Mr Lamont.
"They've got a greater understanding of the impact it's having on our community and I don't think they were quite aware of how significant that is and they've now opened their eyes," Mr Young said.
He said since the hard restrictions began on Wednesday there had been a big drop in foot traffic in Dean Street and retailers were reporting a 30 per cent fall in revenue.
Mr Tudehope declined to say when any changes resulting from his result may emerge, pointing to the day-to-day change with coronavirus cases in Victoria.
"It would be presumptuous for me to say that we will give an instant solution, but the importance of me being here today is to forcefully deliver the arguments which have been put by the business community of Albury," he said.