PRESSURE is mounting on Wodonga Council to be transparent in its dealings with the public over development at Junction Place ahead of its meeting tonight where details of a proposed community reference group will be discussed.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
At the meeting, a proposed Memorandum of Understanding between the Wodonga Council and Development Victoria will be placed before the council for consideration and adoption.
It will be recommended from preliminary discussions that the council's chief executive officer be authorised to enter into the MoU with the agency.
Also to be considered is a draft terms of reference for a community reference group with a recommendation that the chief executive officer also be authorised to negotiate and agree to the terms of reference for its involvement in discussions about development for Junction Place.
Community group Engage Wodonga spokeswoman Michelle Cowan said her members "take credit for this idea of a community reference group going forward".
IN OTHER NEWS:
"It was certainly our recommendation to Development Victoria and I have been speaking to them to say we were surprised to see the draft terms of reference for the group in the council agenda paper for Monday," Ms Cowan said.
"We were surprised because in our meetings we had discussed this and the undertaking by Development Victoria was that they would share those draft terms of reference for our comment.
"So unfortunately it seems that council has gone ahead of that process, that we haven't seen those terms of reference until now and I think that Development Victoria accept and admit that that's the case. So we're looking forward to having a good look at them.
"We had been promised we would have an opportunity to comment on them before they went this far and we didn't. The reference group is a facet of Development Victoria, not of council.
"So, Development Victoria will be running the group."
Wodonga Council has previously vowed to be fully transparent in projects earmarked for Junction Place which has been at the centre of squabbles between members of the public, developers and councillors for years.
The council has also previously been criticised for "lacking transparency" and being rigid on some issues deemed to be in the public interest.
In May, the council endorsed its draft budget under the watchful eye of a government appointed monitor Janet Dore.
Mayor Kev Poulton did not introduce or acknowledge Ms Dore at the time but later explained she needed no introduction, as councillors had already welcomed her.
Ms Dore's role was to oversee council activities and behaviour and report to Victorian Local Government Minister Shaun Leane.
In July, the council was set to change rules which would see councillors being able to speak much less than their Albury counterparts.
This was met with resistance from some councillors with Libby Hall and Ron Mildren saying the time cut was unnecessary.
"Mostly councillors do try to speak to a motion as quickly as they can," Cr Hall was reported as saying.
"Sometimes there is a need to speak longer, especially when the councillor believes it is in the public interest."
Wodonga Council was unavailable for comment yesterday afternoon.
To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark https://www.bordermail.com.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @bordermail
- Follow us on Instagram @bordermail
- Follow us on Google News