![Lauren Black, pictured in August 2022, at the bench dedicated to her mother Elke, who can be seen holding her dogs in the giant photograph. Lauren Black, pictured in August 2022, at the bench dedicated to her mother Elke, who can be seen holding her dogs in the giant photograph.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/4c033957-14f4-4048-8914-d4180fcebc67.jpg/r0_98_5529_3219_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A daughter has welcomed Albury Council's decision to drop a plan to remove an Eastern Hill bench which was dedicated to her late mother.
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The city had earmarked the long seat, which overlooks the Kiewa Valley, for removal in an Eastern Hill master plan unveiled in 2022.
It was flagged that the memorial to Elke Black should be removed and replaced with "new furniture and interpretative signage".
However, a revised master plan to be put to Albury Council's meeting on Monday, November 27, has seen that section amended.
It now states the council should "retain the existing memorial seat and enhance the lookout area with understorey revegetation, subtle furniture/seating to allow multiple users to enjoy the Kiewa Valley lookout".
![The inscription on the bench which is placed at a high point on the Eastern Hill ridge line facing the Kiewa Valley. The inscription on the bench which is placed at a high point on the Eastern Hill ridge line facing the Kiewa Valley.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/e91a20a3-e0c9-461e-8a28-55489780160a.jpg/r0_285_5568_3428_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mrs Black's daughter Lauren Black, who along with her father and Mrs Black's husband Allan told The Border Mail last year of their distress, welcomed the turnaround.
"We are very happy that they will be maintaining the bench and hope they have learnt through this process not only to consult with those affected first but also to understand the spirit in which the chair was erected," Ms Black said.
"It is honouring the love our mother had for the natural beauty of the hill and her daily peaceful respite for decades."
Albury Council's team leader natural areas Nerilee Kerslake contacted Ms Black after the issue was raised publicly and apologised, however no councillors have spoken to her.
The bench was installed in 2018, following the death of Mrs Black, and tells of the nearby resident's love of walking her dogs across Eastern Hill.