North Norfolk District Council has “no plans to create or fund additional tourist information centres” after it was asked to “step in” following the closure of a town’s voluntary information hub.
Active Fakenham, which runs the town’s information hub, announced on October 27 that they were closing the centre in November due to a “range of unfortunate circumstances.”
It runs out of the town’s Sew Sweets, on Market Place, and was set up in partnership with Active Fakenham in 2016.
The body’s chairman Richard Crook said he hoped North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) could step in to save the centre.
“It is my view that this service should be run by the local authority,” he said. “I hope that the relevant authorities will step in and set up an alternative.”
The hub was intended to be a stop-gap for the town after the council closed the original centre.
But a spokesperson for NNDC said they had no plans to set up a new centre and would instead focus on existing schemes.
They said: “The council is saddened to hear the news of the Fakenham Tourist Information Hub, managed by Active Fakenham.
“While we have no plans to create or fund additional tourist information centres, we are embracing new effective and efficient ways of working with our tourism businesses.
“We are confident that the future of tourist information in north Norfolk is growing positively with new digital trends.
“We continue to operate the North Norfolk Visitors Centre, which supports tourism across the whole district.”
A spokesperson for Fakenham Town Council said: “[We] would like to thank Richard Crook and Active Fakenham for setting up and running the information hub over the past years.
“We are deeply saddened to hear of its closure.
“Now is the time for NNDC to step in and once more provide a tourist information office in our town.”
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