Murray King left fuming as Albury councillors vote to abandon bid to buy Wodonga land for tourist venture

Former Albury councillor Murray King made the assessment in the wake of his successors agreeing to abandon options to buy land on the Murray River.

Last month, in a confidential session, councillors decided not to pursue a purchase with the decision moved by David Thurley and seconded by Alice Glachan.

The pair were part of the previous council which agreed in July last year to enter negotiations for a sale, despite Wodonga Council having decided the previous March to abandon a joint deal on the project.

On Thursday, Cr Thurley said with Wodonga the planning authority for the land and not keen on the enterprise there were too many insurmountable aspects.

"We had two sites in private ownership and there were clean-up issues and it was too hard," he said.

Mr King suggested council management had taken advantage of a fresh council.

"I think it was deliberately withheld until the new council came on, with the intent of having it quashed," he said.

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"I think they've been conned, I think it's a calculated, deceptive con."

Cr Thurley dismissed Mr King's theory.

"Murray King comes out publicly and says lots of things about lots of people and if he thinks the council was conned good on him," he said.

"I think we've got a new council that thinks clearly about things

"In this case councillors were given a report and made a decision and that was their own assessment of the way to go."

Mr King had been an ardent supporter of the tourist park on Gateway Island as a drawcard for visitors and in June last year, councillors backed his motion that the city "continues to investigate and facilitate opportunities for the establishment of riverside tourism accommodation in Albury".

He estimated the exercise had cost Albury ratepayers $125,000 with $75,000 forgone on a non-refundable bond if the purchase did not proceed and $50,000 in due diligence aspects such as reports on the land's Aboriginal heritage, soil contamination level and flood status.

Mr King said there was a "give-up culture" in Albury Council and to say it was "too hard" dealing with Wodonga Council "really shows how Two Cities, One Community is finished" and suggested such an approach would have seen Albury without a botanical gardens or war memorial.

Councillor Darren Cameron echoed Cr Thurley's sentiment about Wodonga Council being a blocker for the purchase.

"It's as dead as a dodo, it's impossible to buy it when Wodonga doesn't support it and anybody that says otherwise has been drinking too much Mekong whiskey," Cr Cameron said.

The reference to the beverage was a cryptic link to Mr King spending time in Thailand over recent months.

Cr Cameron rejected the claim that the failure of a holiday park off the Lincoln Causeway showed the Two Cities, One Community deal was failing.

He said it demonstrated projects could be rated differently by each council and there would be some Albury supported and others it did not and vice versa with Wodonga.

"It doesn't mean there aren't other projects like the regional hospital or a regional indoor aquatic centre that we might both agree on," Cr Cameron said.

Wodonga mayor Kev Poulton said recently his council was looking at further uses for Gateway Island.

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