Kennet District Council is to close its tourist office at its World Heritage site at Avebury (Wiltshire, England). Despite the ancient stone circle attracting huge numbers of visitors every year the council wants its tourist office to close in October. Members of the community development executive were given a report at their November meeting outlining options for the future of Avebury Tourist Information Centre. They agreed to close the TIC, which is based in the Chapel, with effect from October 31, 2007 subject to the satisfactory resolution of legal and staffing issues. The process of negotiation and consultation has now started.
     The council says it is examining the future of Avebury TIC for a number of reasons: The location of the TIC is not ideal and results in less than effective use of the service. As the Chapel is out of the main area in the village it has proved difficult to provide signage that leads tourists to the building. The Council is placing a greater emphasis on usage of the internet to promote tourism in the district, therefore the Kennet web site (www.visitkennet.co.uk) has become the focus for tourist information. In addition, the council needs to balance the budget and is seeking many ways to make efficiencies and savings to achieve this. The council says it is committed to providing a tourist information service from the Devizes Visitor Centre and, through the council's agreement with Wiltshire County Council's library service, in Marlborough Library.

Source: Gazette & Herald (11 December 2006)