West Dorset residents, businesses and visitors are being asked for their views on the future provision of the tourist information service in the area.
West Dorset District Council is undertaking a review of its four Tourist Information Centres (TICs) located in Dorchester, Bridport, Sherborne and Lyme Regis.
The Tourist Information Service review is one of a series of reviews that the district council is doing to ensure it provides affordable services that meet the future needs of local residents and businesses.
As part of this review, the district council is conducting a survey to capture the views of TIC customers, local residents who may not have used the service plus local businesses and organisations. People can fill in the survey online at www.dorsetforyou.com/consultation and go to Dorset Consultation Tracker or pick up a survey from the district council-run TICs.
People have from now until 4.30pm on Friday 3 July to take part in the survey. Paper copies may be returned to the TICs or the district council’s offices at South Walks House, Dorchester.
People are also invited to drop-in meetings in each of the council’s TICs on the following dates:
• Wednesday 10 June at Dorchester TIC from 3pm – 7pm
• Thursday 11 June at Sherborne TIC from 3pm – 7pm
• Tuesday 16 June at Bridport TIC from 3pm – 7pm
• Thursday 18 June at Lyme Regis TIC from 3pm – 7pm
The drop-in meetings are to provide local businesses and residents with an opportunity to discuss the service review and to raise awareness of the survey.
West Dorset District Council Leader Cllr Anthony Alford said: “Tourism is very important to West Dorset and I encourage residents and visitors to West Dorset to fill in the survey to ensure we collect as many views as possible to help us to design the future of the tourism information service.
“All service reviews will take account of the views of users and our key partners. We are committed to keeping local people informed as they progress.
“The ongoing financial challenge for the public sector means that the district council will have around £9 million less per year to provide services in 2020 compared to what it had in 2010.
“There will be tough decisions – some services will stop, others will have to be delivered in significantly different ways.”
All data collected will be used to help develop future options for the service. Future options will also be consulted on. A decision on the future direction of the district council’s TICs is likely to be made by January 2016.
More info:
• In the 2013/14 financial year the TICs had a combined total of over 419,069 customers and dealt with over 30,000 enquiries by letter, telephone and email
• Approximately 50 per cent of customers to Dorchester and Bridport TICs are local residents, with 70 per cent in Sherborne and 15 per cent in Lyme Regis
• Key services currently include the provision of free information, transport bookings, ticket sales for events, car parking permits and information, Box Office services for the Electric Palace and Marine Theatre and retail sales.
• Total service costs were £1,130,000 in 2013/14 offset by £840,000 of income giving a net running cost of £291,000
For more information about the context and detail of the reviews please visit – see www.dorsetforyou.com/servicereviews and www.dorsetforyou.com/2020vision
For more information contact the district council’s Communications Team on 01305 252344.
