Mayor's Message 7 February, 2025

Hello everyone,

Late yesterday, the CEO and I were informed that the Mayors of Albury and Wodonga have secured a meeting with the Victorian Health Minister to air their concerns about the current plans to refurbish the Albury hospital rather than build a new hospital on a greenfield site.

This is extremely positive news and for now means that our plans to take a delegation of Mayors, CEOs and community members to the steps of the Victorian Parliament are on hold.

Efforts to secure an audience with the State Government have to date been unsuccessful, so we are very pleased to hear that Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas has agreed to a meeting, which I believe will take place next week.

Indigo Shire is one of up to 17 councils in the Albury Wodonga hospital catchment that are advocating for a new single site hospital, citing the current refurbishment plans as inadequate and falling critically short of meeting the current and future health needs of the region.

This is without doubt the most important issue facing our communities. We deserve better and as your representatives, we will do everything we can to reverse the current decision and to advocate for a new single site hospital.

Our position is clear; we want the State Governments of Victoria and New South Wales to pause the current redevelopment and redirect efforts towards a fully funded, new single-site hospital built in either Albury or Wodonga.

Over the next few weeks, our new Council group will settle into a regular routine of weekly Councillor briefings and the monthly meeting cycle. Our first Council meeting is scheduled for 25 February, and we have a full agenda with several important planning decisions to consider, so we expect high community interest. Remember if you can’t attend a Council meeting in person, you can watch it live via You Tube or view a recording after the meeting.

Please take care, especially in this ongoing hot weather.

Cr Sophie Price.