A LAVINGTON motelier says Albury Council "should have been bending over backwards to help" car enthusiasts who abandoned the city as the host of their national hot rod event.
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Quality Resort Siesta owner Stephen Jones had his complex's 88 rooms already booked by organisers of the 2023 Australian Street Rod Federation Nationals.
The four-day Easter reservation totalled $100,000.
"I don't know the internals of what happened with the council, but they should have been bending over backwards to help them," Mr Jones said.
"Easter is a strong time and Albury will recover from it because it's still two years out, but it's a shame to lose any event and this one would have created a great atmosphere."
Albury councillor Murray King wrote a fiery email to city chief executive Frank Zaknich after organisers opted to move the event to the Hawkesbury region.
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He believes Mr Zaknich should apologise to the hospitality sector and wants the council to subcontract the organisation of events.
Cr King likened what occurred to the fiasco over the Melbourne Storm training in the city and cancelling Carols by Candlelight.
"The council aren't up for the big gigs, they haven't got the ability to run the big shows and this was a big show," he said.
The Border Mail asked Mr Zaknich via email on Monday if he thought the city's event attraction process should be reviewed and if he would apologise.
He declined to answer those queries directly.
Mr Zaknich also would not say why the city wanted to keep secret Noreuil Park's hosting of the event, an issue that irked the hot rodders.
He said the city was "disappointed and respect the decision" but added "any enquiries regarding this decision should be directed to the ASRF".
Mr Zaknich added the city would like to talk to the ASRF about hosting in 2025, and was "committed to working with event organisers large and small, whilst building on our reputation as an event destination of choice".
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