By JESSE GRAHAM
A CAMPAIGN to shift Healesville’s Visitor Information Centre (VIC) services to the council-owned Memorial Hall has been knocked back, sending community groups back to the drawing board.
The Memorial Hall had been discussed by the Healesville Chamber of Commerce, Yarra Ranges Tourism (YRT) and Yarra Valley Regional Tourism Association (YVRTA) as an option for the VIC earlier this year.
The three groups penned a letter to Yarra Ranges mayor Fiona McAllister, urging for her support and outlining some of the benefits of a co-location, with one standout being an expected doubling of the VIC’s 35,000 annual visitors.
However, Cr McAllister told the Mail on Friday 7 March that the Yarra Ranges Council-owned Memorial Hall was not an option.
“Unfortunately, Memo Hall is not an option for the Visitor Information Centre, and is not fit for the purpose that YRT has outlined in terms of growth and reducing financial pressures,” she said.
She said that, following a meeting between the council’s representatives and community members on 28 February, she had sent a letter outlining the limitations of the location.
Cr McAllister said the council would be keen to discuss how to improve the VIC experience at its current location on Harker Street, while also focusing on the longer-term direction of the service.
A spokesperson for YRT said the group was continuing to research options for a relocation of the VIC, and would work with the council, YVRTA and the council on possible venues.
“We are working collaboratively with the Healesville Chamber of Commerce and Yarra Valley Regional Tourism Association and look forward to hearing from the council on what opportunities may be possible into the future,” the spokesperson said.
The subject of Healesville’s VIC has been controversial, since the proposal was raised late last year to move the VIC into the council’s Healesville Community Link building.
The proposal came as a result of a feasibility study and a business case that concluded the VIC’s location in Harker Street was “sub-optimal”.
Members of the Healesville Chamber of Commerce opposed the Community Link option, though president Graham Taylor said the chamber had supported a move to the Memorial Hall for the short term.
He said that he would like to see the town have the best VIC possible, and that venues like the Memorial Hall – while being in a “prime location” – were limited in terms of future growth.
“In the interim period, the chamber is keen to pursue the move to the Memorial Hall, or alternatively, encourage the council to support the existing VIC in terms of both funding and infrastructure,” Mr Taylor said.
