Albury councillor says best health service result is important, regardless of Twin Cities hospital site

Albury representative Jess Kellahan was speaking at this week's council meeting during debate about a revised Two Cities One Community agreement involving her city and Wodonga.

She noted the highest priority of both councils was the health service and advocacy.

"In light of what's been transpiring over the past six months with our health system, I think it's important to note we want to work collaboratively for the best outcomes for our community," Cr Kellahan said.

"Whether the hospital ends up in Albury or Wodonga we want the best services for everyone and that's not a debate."

The refreshed agreement follows an initial pact signed between the cities on October 13, 2017.

Wodonga Council approved the latest version at its meeting last week, while Albury Council endorsed it on Monday night.

The fresh agreement has five objectives compared to 10 in the original document.

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They include co-operating on regional planning, advocating with governments to "benefit the local economy and the Albury-Wodonga lifestyle" and to "unlock productivity improvement through effective cross border issue resolution".

Wodonga councillor Ron Mildren said he supported the deal but queried the detail of its operation.

"I see the 2C1C as a really strong and good opportunity but if we continue to go down into the operational minutiae and don't stay right at the top and don't look at the big pictures of issues like the strategic planning issues, urban land use issues over the two cities as a unified approach, things like that, then I think we're just messing around the edges and not doing things in a timely and efficient manner," Cr Mildren said.

He said "vision pillars" were "jargonistic and bureaucratic".

"We need to stay at the higher regional level of what we're doing and not get into the operational stuff that each of the councils normally do," Cr Mildren said.

"Rightfully the staff have always informed one another and spoken between each other when things have needed to be considered and I think we should continue to do that but not do it as a formal part of the 2C1C process."

Albury mayor Kylie King and her Wodonga counterpart Kev Poulton will formally sign the updated Two Cities One Community agreement on Wednesday morning.

"I'm excited to continue the partnership with Mayor Poulton and the Wodonga Council team to build on the great work that's already been done, and can't wait to see what the next iteration of the strategy will look like," Cr King said in a statement.

A survey will soon be unveiled to accompany the pact, with residents asked about their priorities for the Twin Cities.

It will be publicised on council websites.

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