A renewed focus for our Border communities

Following the signing of a new Two Cities One Community (2C1C) Partnership Agreement in August 2022, AlburyCity and Wodonga Council have resolved to place a revised Draft 2C1C Strategic Plan on public exhibition.

Both our Albury and Wodonga communities were recently asked to share their thoughts on the previous 2C1C Strategic Plan, including regional priorities and community aspirations for the reviewed Strategic Plan and future cross border collaboration.

This community input has informed the updated draft Strategic Plan, which replaces the previous plan that was developed in 2017.

The top 12 regional priorities from the community were:

Health and health services
Liveability
Planning and managing growth
Infrastructure, including roads, drains and footpaths
Economic development, including investment and jobs growth
Natural environment
Public transport
Sustainability
Sport and recreation
Tourism
Water and water security
Education and training

The Draft 2C1C Strategic Plan will now be placed on public exhibition seeking community feedback, and if endorsed by both councils, work will begin on a revised Action Plan that identifies the projects, strategies and resources that will deliver on the new priorities and aspirations.

AlburyCity Mayor Kylie King said the changes to the regional priorities align with what the community has been saying for some time.

"Good health services are such an important priority for our community, so we will continue to advocate strongly for improved services on both sides of the Border," Mayor King said.

"Again, liveability is also important, so we can retain the lifestyle we all know and love, and a renewed focus on planning and managing growth is critical for our future focus."

"There have been many great achievements under our 2C1C partnership agreement, and it's really pleasing to see both communities' passion for continuing the partnership as we move into our exciting future," added Mayor King.

Acting Wodonga Council Mayor Graeme Simpfendorfer said the community feedback would help both councils to advocate for improvements in line with community aspirations.

“Issues such as health, growth, the economy, managing our natural environment and of course, liveability are key priorities for our community so we’re looking forward to continuing our combined work deliver improvements on those issues and more,” he said.

“As we continue our work together, we look forward to receiving further feedback during the public exhibition period so we can further develop an action plan that will deliver the future services and infrastructure that our growing community needs.”

The 2C1C Draft Community Strategic Plan is now available for feedback on the Have your Say website.

Submissions close Tuesday, 24 January 2022.