Local fine dining establishment, Miss Amelie has been recognised for excellence in the Australian Good Food Guide 2018 restaurant awards.

The modern European restaurant that combines classic fare with chef and owner David Kapay's contemporary experience, was awarded its first Chef Hat since opening at Junction Place about 18 months ago.

This news comes in concert with David's recent expansion announcement, with plans to create 40-seat Little Miss Wine Bar. Channelling inner-city sophistication, the bar will offer a wide range of high quality wines and a selection of tapas.

The extensions are anticipated to be completed by March  costing about $100,000, with renovations by local company, Murphy Development and interior design by Ivey Interiors.

Originally from Wodonga, David has worked at Jamie Oliver's restaurant in London and has been head chef at many Melbourne restaurants.

Arnolds Fruit Market reached a major milestone in Novemember 2017, celebrating 125 years of business in Albury-Wodonga.

The home-grown market is a family affair with current managers, Louise and Roger Arnold being the fourth generation to run the operation, and Roger’s three children Ben, Jake and Maddy on board representing the fifith generation.

Arnolds is proud of its achievements over the past three centuries, and will continue to evolve with the times to increase efficiences and improve service delivery for its customers.

In October 2017, four new smart tourism terminals were rolled out across the city centre.

Located at key locations including, Wodonga Plaza, Wodonga Railway Station, Wodonga Library and in Junction Square, the terminals provide easy access to the Visit Albury Wodonga website, and printed visitor guides and maps are available at each site.

It follows the council’s decision in May 2017 to close the Visitor Information Centre and move to a digital presence while continuing to use the pop-up tourism information trailer at major events and invest in the VisitAW destination brand, and marketing and tourism initiatives with AlburyCity.

The Visitor Information Centre formally closed on Friday, October 27.

Works will begin in the northern end of High St from Monday, January 15. The section of High St between South St and Elgin Boulevard will be closed to vehicular traffic. Pedestrian access will remain at all times.

The intersection of High and South streets will be closed for about four weeks, subject to weather, while the intersection is reconstructed.

Detours will be in place taking in Osburn, Hovell and Havelock streets. Please obey traffic management and allow appropriate travel time.

Thank you for your patience and co-operation while we build our city heart.

Remember to support businesses who will still be trading while we’re upgrading – familiar faces, great service, support local. For more information and updates, head to the Major Projects website here.

As part of the city centre revitalisation, the council has launched a website to showcase those businesses located within the Wodonga Central Business Area (CBA).

The City Heart website includes information on each individual business, along with upcoming events, latest news, and dining and shopping opportunities in the area. It will also complement the City Heart app, providing accessible and up-to-date information for locals and tourists alike. 

The website offers a fantastic free promotional opportunity for local businesses, but we need your help to make it come to life! We’ve put together a short online form that will provide us with the relevant information.

From there, our Communications and Marketing team will draft the profile for you to approve, before the website is made public.
Together, we’re working towards creating a vibrant city heart for Wodonga.

Click here to complete the form to submit your business.

Owners of Andiamo Street Kitchen, Andrea Burgio and Farrah Reid, have expanded their Junction Square presence opening a new pop-up gelateria, Topolino.

Andrea makes the gelato in Wodonga having been formally trained at Gelato University near Bologna last year.

Topolino offers 50 different types of gelato on a rotation basis, showcasing 14 flavours daily. More information, inculding trading hours here.

The City Heart Shopfront Improvement and Access Fund forms part of Wodonga Council's Business Support during the City Heart Revitalisation works.

A total of $150,000 is available over two years ($75,000 for stage one and $75,000 for stage two of works).

The fund aims to:

• Encourage and facilitate shop owners, operators and landlords to improve their buildings through façade upgrades, thereby improving their presentation to the street.

• Encourage and provide a mechanism for shop owners, operators and landlords to ensure all people can access the front of their premises (regardless of ability or disability).

The fund will include two activity streams:

• $1:$1 matching grants up to $3,000 for shopfront improvements; and,
• $1:$1 matching grants up to $3,000 for internal all abilities access improvements within private buildings that cannot be corrected by the public realm (that is, the footpath) works.

For more information, download the brochure and online application form.

The planning department released 194 lots in the October to December 2017 quarter, which represents a 60 per cent increase on the same quarter in 2016. Read all the planning statistics.

The $47.5 million Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund supports capital projects to establish and expand advanced manufacturing activities in Victoria and South Australia.

The program aims to transition the manufacturing sector and improve the overall efficiency and competitiveness of firms and the broader economy. The program supports capital projects by small and medium enterprises that expand and establish advanced manufacturing using: advanced technologies, design and engineering excellence and innovative business processes.

More information, including eligibility requirements and program guidelines can be found here. Applications close February 28, 2018 5pm.

The total value of building work in the October to December 2017 quarter exceeded $43 million and 230 building permits were issued. Building activity remained constant in the quarter with the commercial market having a strong impact. Read all the building statistics.

The roll out of the nbn™ broadband access network is almost complete across Wodonga. To answer all of your questions about making the switch to an nbn™ powered plan, the team at nbn are bringing the Road Muster truck to Wodonga.

The truck will host an interactive display powered by a live nbn™ service. Visit the team any time from 10am to 4pm at Junction Square on February 1 and 2 to chat about what the nbn™ access network means for you.