By JESSE GRAHAM
A CAMPAIGN to shift Healesville’s Visitor Information Centre (VIC) services to the Memorial Hall has been knocked down, with the service set to stay in its place until 2016.
At the 12 March Healesville Chamber of Commerce meeting, Chamber president Graham Taylor said the Harker Street VIC location would be maintained over the next two years with the help of the community and the council, and its services are to be expanded.
The announcement came after the Yarra Ranges Council knocked down a proposal by Yarra Ranges Tourism (YRT), the chamber and Yarra Valley Regional Tourism Association (YVRTA) to move the VIC services into the Memo Hall.
The three groups penned a letter to Yarra Ranges mayor Fiona McAllister, urging her support. They outlined 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 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.
Following a meeting between the council’s representatives and community members on 28 February, she said she despatched 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.
Mr Taylor said the three groups would work to keep the VIC running in Harker Street and assess the feasibility of the site after 2016, when the Yarra Valley Railway is set to open between Healesville and Yarra Glen.
He said that Yarra Ranges Tourism would be discussing the matter with the council.
The proposal for the VIC to move comes after a feasibility study and a business case last year concluded that the current location for Healesville’s service was “sub-optimal”.
It was suggested to move the service into Healesville’s Community Link building, but this was opposed by many Chamber of Commerce members, who argued, at the time, that an increase in signage would be preferable to moving locations.
