Ways of making Tenby Tourist Information Centre ‘cost neutral’ need to be found if the facility is to be retained, a meeting has heard.

Members of Tenby town council met with Pembrokeshire County Council representatives last week to discuss the future of the facility which has been earmarked for closure.

PCC’s head of procurement, Paul Ashley Jones outlined the background behind the meeting and explained that Cabinet had agreed to keep the TIC open until October while they investigated ways of retaining the facility with TTC and the Tenby tourism sector stakeholders.

He stated that PCC were looking at how the £45,000 staffing costs could be covered, and if a way could be found to make the TIC cost neutral to PCC then the service would be retained.

PCC were themselves looking at ways of supplementing the costs through the introduction of a catering facility selling teas, coffees etc. from May to provide a regular income stream and they were also considering a ‘left luggage’ facility.

The idea would be that the TIC would be open from 10 am to 4 pm, six days a week until the end of September but proposals would be needed by the end of August if the service was to continue, and PCC could look at ways of ‘chipping away’ at the £45,000 costs but they could not do it alone and welcomed any ideas Tenby had.

Mr. Ashley-Jones stressed that the café facilities would be supplementary to the information service, and that PCC were not considering it to be a stand-alone cafe.

Clr. Mike Evans complemented PCC on looking at ways to help keep the TIC open but felt that Tenby would have to assist with some form of financial package too.

He wondered if there was any flexibility over winter opening to help reduce costs as he personally felt that the service did not need to be provided on a daily basis during the Winter months.

PCC’s libraries operations manager Pam Anthony explained that other town and community councils contributed to the staffing costs of their libraries and, while moving the TIC to the library in Tenby was not considered an option due to it was too far out of the town centre, with the current location considered ideal, it was a model that could be considered in relation to the TIC.

Clr. Evans pointed out that the TIC took considerable revenue for ??? through the sale of parking permits and wondered if there could be a contribution from the parking sector. Mr. Ashley-Jones said that parking services already contributed to the running costs of the building, but this was a conversation that could be had.

It was stressed at the meeting that many visitors did not want to use the internet to get information and liked the ability to chat with staff at the TIC.

PCC representatives said it was important to keep the dialogue ongoing and focusing on ways of working with the community to come up with a solution to keep the facility open.

It was agreed to hold a further meeting this month on the matter.