Victorian Electoral Commission offers two options for wards in Wodonga

In a preliminary report released on Wednesday, July 5, two models of splitting Wodonga into seven single-councillor wards have been proposed.

The first model has two rural-focused wards (Barnawartha North and Baranduda Range) and five mostly urban wards (Gateway Island, Willow Park, Racecourse, Bear Hill and Wattle Park).

Model two is a mix of three urban (Marimba Park, Sumsion Gardens and Racecourse), one mostly rural (Baranduda Range) and three rural-urban wards (Barnawartha North, Lake Hume and Huon Creek).

A single-councillor model with eight councillors was also considered.

The VEC report had model two as the preferred option.

"It divided the rural areas of the council across four wards, with each ward incorporating parts of the urban localities where growth is projected to occur. It determined model two would provide fair and equitable representation to the various communities of interest within each of the seven wards," the report read.

In model one, the Wodonga CBD is in Gateway Island, bordered by High Street to the east, Brockley and Lawrence streets to the south, and Parkers Road, University Drive, Sheathers and Goynes roads to the west.

Gateway Island ward includes Wodonga Regional Park and captures nearly half of the Wodonga locality and most of Gateway Island.

The Wattle Park and Willow Park wards sit south of Gateway Island and are primarily residential.

Wattle Park is bordered by Lawrence Street to the north, Melrose Drive in the east and Parkers Road to the west, while Willow Park, divided by Pearce Street, includes residential areas to the north and houses either side of Yarralumla Drive.

Racecourse ward takes in 25 per cent of Wodonga, Bandiana and Gateway Island, and includes the large commercial zone to the west of Bandiana Link Road.

Bear Hill ward includes the residential development in Leneva, Baranduda Range encompasses more than half of the council area, capturing Bandiana and Lake Hume, while the Barnawartha North segment covers most of West Wodonga, with the Logic industrial hub to the west.

The report stated communities of interest across the city would be "reasonably well represented" by model one, but there were concerns about its structure.

"The Baranduda Range ward, stretching from the council's western boundary across to the eastern boundary of Lake Hume, might possibly include various communities of interest that do not have much in common. This large ward might also result in a heavier workload for the elected councillor and potentially impact their ability to connect and represent voters and diverse communities," it read.

The Barnawartha North ward in model two is much the same, with an eastern boundary running from Felltimber Creek Road to the south, north along Marshall Street, Kingfisher Drive, Parkers Road and University Drive to the Hume Freeway.

The boundary then follows the freeway north to Lincoln Causeway and the city boundary at the Murray River bridge crossing.

The proposed Lake Hume ward captures commercial and residential areas east of High Street and most of Bandiana and Killara.

More than 40 per cent of voters are in the Marimba Park, Sumsion Gardens and Racecourse wards in an area of only 15 kilometres.

Both the Marimba Park and Sumsion Gardens wards have the Hume Freeway as their northern boundary and cut off at Felltimber Creek Road to the south.

Wodonga mayor Ron Mildren said the city was "far better off without wards as we've got a reasonably homogenous community".

"It's a relatively small municipality in area and it's pretty much all urban and urban hinterland. There's not an awful lot of genuine agriculture left in the municipality. I think you get better distribution of the will of the people when you do it as an unsubdivided area," he said.

Cr Mildren urged the community to provide its feedback, which would allow them to speak at an online public hearing to be held on August 2.

A final report will then be prepared for Local Government Minister Melissa Horne, with a recommendation for the number of councillors and the electoral structure for the council provided on August 30.

"Otherwise, this will be done from a desktop in Melbourne and potentially won't reflect the circumstances and situation we have on the ground," Cr Mildren said.

"If there's enough people in the community come out and say they want X or Y, and that's different to what's been recommended, then there's a fair chance the minister will have a listen to that."

Submissions close at 5pm on July 26 and can be made through the VEC website, by email or post.

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