CHIPPENHAM NEWS: A THREATENED tourist information centre is safe for another few months but council bosses have admitted it is unlikely to be kept open in its current form.
The £47,000 needed to run Corsham's Tourist Information Centre each year is currently provided by North Wiltshire District Council, which has put pressure on Corsham Town Council to take on funding the facility.
The tourist information centre is the last in north Wiltshire to be funded by the district council, with Chippen-ham's TIC passed to town council control last month, but Corsham Town Council said it is too expensive to take on.
Gwyn De-arth, North Wiltshire District Council regeneration and asset management team leader said: "I recognise there are some feelings of uncertainty about its future, particularly from the staff, but the budget has been put in place for this year and there are no plans to change anything this year."
He said a short term option for the TIC, which serves 20,000 people a year, would be to cut staff and equipment.
"We are looking to reduce costs and increase revenue but we have to undertake something more major to introduce significant changes."
Options include moving it to Corsham town hall where it would run alongside the Information Point, expanding the museum next to the centre or making it more retail based.
Corsham Town Councillor John Bright said: "This centre was an initiative of the district council.
"We were brought in on it and we provided the premises and now apparently the district council has decided that this is not one of its primary areas of concern. This is a case of pass the parcel.
"We are being invited to take over something that the district have decided they don't want to do any longer."
Cllr Roy Jackson said: "We have got to fight to keep it and not fight to get rid of it. Tourism is the salvation of Corsham."
Cllr De-arth said: "I have not mentioned the word 'close'. I talked about adapting, changing and moving forward."
A report on options will be put together in time for a meeting in the autumn.
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