Complaints about Ringwood Visitor Information Centre opening hours

8:00pm Thursday 18th March 2010

By Bob Jolliffe

A COUNCIL has been accused of telling tourists they are not wanted by opening Ringwood’s Visitor Information Centre only three days a week.

Ringwood resident Peter Harper, 73, who previously rented out a holiday home, has written to New Forest District Council complaining about the limited opening hours at the Meeting House Lane information centre.

He said the centre could “make a major contribution to the New Forest’s finances”.

“With the growing success of tourism over the past 10 years and now with the additional publicity of the National Park, we are well positioned to receive an even greater share of holidaymakers both from home and abroad,” he said.

“The country is in the middle of a recession and every attempt should be made to use existing facilities, wherever possible.

“Why are our councillors neglecting to keep the Ringwood information centre open at a time when we should be encouraging tourism? Currently it is closed for most of the week. Why?”

He said the centre is only open from 9am to 3pm on Wednesdays and Fridays and from 10am to 1pm on Saturdays.

“I would also suggest the information centre looks closed even when it is actually open, mostly because of very poor lighting,” he said.

He said visitors want to know what is available in the New Forest, to book accommodation and obtain literature and maps.

“By being closed most of the time we are in fact saying ‘Go away’,” he said.

Martin Devine, the council’s head of communities and employment, said there are not the resources to man the centre.

“It’s a site that is visited mainly by local people, mainly for parking clocks and the like,” he said. “Ringwood is a good gateway location but it could do with a bit more in it to attract people to it. Lyndhurst’s VIC is visitor-based, Lymington is half-and-half and Ringwood is very much local-based.”

After Easter, it is proposed to move visitor facilities to the public offices in Christchurch Road.

Ringwood Town Council has objected to the district council’s plans to move the VIC to the public offices.

They claim the current location is ideal, that the loss of the service would be unacceptable and that there has been a lack of consultation.