Wyndham council search on for new tourist info site

Wyndham council will seek a new site for a visitor information centre after deciding to close the one in Watton Street.

The council runs a satellite centre at Werribee Open Range Zoo and an information centre at the Wyndham Cultural Centre on Watton Street.

But a decline in visitor numbers to the Watton Street site led councillors to decide to close the centre on June 30.

It will instead offer non-accredited tourist information from Watton Street library.

Councillors said the cultural centre was the wrong place for a visitor information centre because it did not meet the needs of tourists.

Cr Marie Brittan said there was not enough parking on Watton Street for caravans, while Cr Goodfellow felt visitors had trouble finding the centre because it was at the end of Watton Street.

A report to the council stated that in 2014, 4493 people visited the cultural centre for tourism-related inquiries, while 7878 people stopped at the visitor information centre at the zoo.

The number of people visiting the Watton Street site had been declining since 2010, the report stated.

Councillors suggested a new centre be established on the Princes Highway at the entrance to Werribee, at the old shire office on Watton Street or in the East Werribee Employment Precinct.

But Cr Intaj Khan said the cultural centre was the ideal location for the centre because it was close to public transport.