Mayor Dave Hodgson has been slammed for closing Bedford’s Travel and Tourism Centre just 2 years after it opened as part of the £8.8m redevelopment of the Bus Station.
In 2015 the Mayor hailed the opening of the Travel and Tourism Centre after it was moved out of the picturesque Old Town Hall. He has now, however, taken the decision to move the Travel and Tourism Centre once again, citing reduced income.
Whilst welcoming the news, Cllr Roger Rigby has hit out at the decision to move the Travel and Tourism Centre to a ‘corridor’ of the Bus Station in the first place. He said:
‘The Council’s budget report made it clear that the Travel and Tourism Centre became no more than a glorified bus and rail ticket office in a corridor of the Bus Station. The Mayor’s proposal to close it as a budget saving measure provides him with a fig leaf to cover his failure to deliver effective tourism support in the Borough.
‘The poor decision has been costing our taxpayers at least £62k a year, as well as a large capital investment to install it and now another £10k to re-locate it. It is a financial shambles whilst the Mayor needs to save £21.2m by the end of the decade. He cannot blame this mess on the Government.
‘The Conservative Group fully supports a move hopefully to the Central Library or the Corn Exchange.
‘A recent official review of the Council highlighted the untapped potential of tourism in the Borough. The Council needs to get back to promoting tourism rather than selling rail and bus tickets.’