Face-off in race to mayor's office

The battle to become Albany's next mayor has begun after experienced city planner Neil Smithson emerged as Mayor Dennis Wellington's sole challenger for the title at close of nominations last Thursday.

It is not the first time Mr Smithson, 55, has faced election - he nominated for mayor in 1999 and was an independent candidate for the seat of O'Connor at the 2010 Federal Election where he received 500 votes.

While Mr Smithson, who has lived in Albany for 17 years, admits he has never held an elected position on council, he said his 35 years in the local government sector would be advantageous to the city.

He said Albany was the "most magnificent opportunity in Australia" in terms of regional development, but believes the city has struggled to move forward.

"We haven't made the most of the Anzac opportunity and we are still not looking forward to the Albany bi-centennial which is just over a decade away now," he said.

"All of these manifest into a range of development challenges and issues that we've seen come out in the last decade.

"To make the most of the National Anzac Centre, we quite clearly need some high-quality accommodation and you're looking at the site next to the marina and also the Middleton Beach site as the two best hotel sites in Albany.

"For whatever reason, in the seven years leading up to Anzac 2014, the council has not being able to secure a hotel on either of those sites.

"I think my background experience as a qualified city planner and manager of business development for local government around Australia has a lot of offer in terms of securing one or both of those sites.

"I see that as absolutely fundamental to the growth and development of tourism in Albany and the Great Southern."

Mr Wellington, 66, was first elected as mayor in 2011 and said he was keen for a second term because there was "still a lot of work to be done".

"I think what we've achieved in Albany over the past four years has been pretty good," he said.

"The Anzac commemoration was a huge achievement, changing the focus from being seen as a negative group to being very positive … and quite frankly (we are) getting things done."

"We've had the town square done, we've had the National Anzac Centre, we've had the (Anzac) commemoration, the upgrades of Stirling Terrace."

Mr Wellington said it was time for Albany to lead the way in terms of tourism in WA.

"With the mining boom running down, we've never been a part of that but we've always been here and been pretty progressive," he said.

"So I think we are now seen as one of the leading lights."