TENTERFIELD’S tourism future faces further uncertainty following a bold decision by council to slash contributions to the Visitors Information Centre.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
An impassioned speech from the Tenterfield and District Visitors Association president wasn't enough to sway council as they opted to pull funding.
At council's monthly ordinary meeting in Drake last Wednesday councillors voted against providing annual funding for the operation of the Tenterfield Visitors Information Centre.
Councillors voted unanimously to renew the centres licence agreement for a further three year period to provide some surety but knocked back the groups wish to remove the $6000 licence fee paid per annum.
The TDVA's attempt to get a $30,000 annual contribution also fell flat.
The group’s president Peter Brier-Mills said he hoped that the councillors would have a change of heart.
“The vote by councillors who rejected our proposals has all but severed the spine of tourism in Tenterfield,” Mr Brier-Mills said.
“They’d better go to spec savers because they don’t have 20/20 vision for the future.
“Volunteer organisations are vital for any town. The TVA is slightly different in that they support all businesses in Tenterfield and district and all areas are promoted and supported.
“A councillor, who will remain nameless, apparently just walked in to a business the other day and said ‘oh I’ve been busy, we just shut the TVA down’ – I hope they see reason and logic and care enough for the sake of Tenterfield,” he said.
Deputy mayor Mary Leahy voted against the annual funding and said her reasoning was simple.
"We (council) are currently facing financial ratios we can't meet," Cr Leahy said.
Others simply wanted to pull the rug out altogether and have the funding and lease agreement cancelled.
"I think council should run the centre like we do with the School of Arts," Cr Gary Verri said.
"Areas of our shire are being left out in the cold. We have world heritage sites that are not promoted. I would prefer that we don't renew the lease at all," he said.
The group had developed a Strategic Plan to help push their case but it came in for some strong criticism.
"I think the Strategic Plan is lacking in strategy - it's just motherhood statements with no specifics," Cr Toni Hull said.
Most councillors were in agreement when saying that it appeared unfair to fund a volunteer run organisation and not any others.
"It has to be seen as a volunteer organisation - we have a lot of others in town who work their butts off and raise their own money," Cr Hull said.
Weighing up profit and losses the group said they will go bust within three years if funding was culled.
"I didn't see any evidence of them failing (reading the Strategic Plan) - there is money in the bank," Cr Leahy argued.
Visitor’s Centre co-ordinator Lara Flanagan has resigned her position and will leave at the end of this year’s licence agreement in June.