Former councillor and Dean Street pizza maker Daryl Betteridge running for Albury Council comeback

Mr Betteridge spent two terms on Albury Council before stepping down in 2016, but with the sale of his Dean Street pizza parlour he believes he will be better placed to have a bigger impact in the chamber if elected later this year.

NSW local government elections were postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19 and Mr Betteridge is the first high-profile candidate to confirm he will be running.

He has already assembled his ticket with Barbara Hull, the wife of former councillor Neville, to join him as his No.2 and Dean Street hoteliers Jodie Tiernan, Brian Grenfell and Gavin Grant also onboard.

Mr Betteridge said he raised his eyebrows at recent comments from Cr Darren Cameron seeking more staff dedicated to assisting councillors and Cr John Stuchbery and Cr Murray King complaining about defective phones and iPads.

"What has changed in the last four-and-a-half years?" he queried.

"I always felt valued and supported by staff and adequately resourced with a generous allowance, phone and iPad.

"Any extra staff could be better used elsewhere in the organisation."

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Cr Cameron said he stood by his recent comments.

"The less people do the less resources they need," he said.

"But if you want to develop good policy and deal with the issues that people from across the city raise there needs to be a slight increase in resources.

"Albury has always had business people over represented on council and apart from the luxury of setting their own hours, business people don't want to see changes in the way council functions."

Mr Betteridge, whose wife Julie lost her battle with cancer late last year, said he was ready to go when elections were originally scheduled a year ago.

"The opportunity to represent the community again is the driving force," he said.

"I have the time to do an even better and more thorough job.

"There are a lot of questions in my mind that can only be properly answered by being on council again."

Among the questions he will be seeking answers to include whether there is sufficient carparking to support the crowds for major events at the redeveloped Lavington Sportsground and why a splash park hasn't been built at the Oddies Creek playground.

Another priority was the revitalisation of the Albury CBD post COVID and pointed to the positive vibe which existed in in central Wodonga due to recent investment.

"We need to re-energise our CBD for the small and medium businesses which have struggled through the pandemic," he said.

He also wants to see improved mountain-bike trails in the city and better infrastructure built in the Thurgoona area including a library and public pool and upgraded road network.

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