BORDER citizens face weeks of division with Victorian checkpoints to stay until summer's over, according to Albury mayor Kevin Mack.
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Asked by The Border Mail on Friday how long he expected the checks to remain , Cr Mack said: "I've been told the end of February."
The former policeman replied "Smallbury" when quizzed on where his February timeframe came from.
"People on these roadblocks they talk, what can I say, they've been told that this is how long you'll be there, this is what to expect and so on and so forth," Cr Mack said.
"Two months (of closure) is about where I see it being right now because of the changes that are happening, but who knows."
Wodonga mayor Kev Poulton said he had been given no indication from the Victorian government about the duration of checkpoints.
"What we know from experience though is that these things are in 14-day cycles so once they make a decision you're usually waiting (for sometime)," Cr Poulton said.
Both mayors slammed the lack of clarity from Victoria about the shut-off to NSW.
"Communication's key, even as the leader of a city I'm confused," Cr Poulton said.
Cr Mack said there had been inconsistent messaging from the Victorian hierarchy.
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"No-one is thinking ahead, they're just thinking 'right now who can we inconvenience and who...can we stress out and create mental health issues for?' because that's all they're doing to our communities across the border and across the country at the moment," Cr Mack said.
Cr Poulton said residents needed to be aware the government "could shrink that border zone down at anytime, we need to be prepared for that".
He was hopeful a driver's licence identification process would remain for those in the bubble and a cross border permit system would not be introduced.
Cr Mack said he wanted to see the NSW cross border commissioner lobby for southern Riverina residents who may need to travel to Melbourne for fundamental reasons such as medical appointments.
Cr Poulton dismissed the impact of potential restrictions on him travelling to the Victorian capital to represent Wodonga Council because he is an Albury resident.
"I have no concerns about how we conduct business remotely at all," he said.
Cr Poulton said he would be pushing for the Victorian government to provide a compensation package to Wodonga businesses, similar to the one made available to Albury firms by the NSW treasury after the northern border was closed last year.
"I'll be advocating that the Victorian government need to consider (it) and something more substantial than what's been offered in the past," he said.
Cr Mack sympathised with motel and caravan park owners on the NSW side of the Murray River who have seen a Victorian exodus.
"I feel sorry for those operators right now because they can't plan for the future and I'd expect that a lot of them would be very upset and experiencing significant financial hits," he said.