Final summer for Bognor Regis tourism help-point

A meeting of Arun District Council’s cabinet on Monday saw members make the final decision to close the town’s Visitor Information Centre on Place St Maur from September 1.

The council wants to put in its place an informal ‘VIC Lite’ service – costing £17,000 a year – to ensure some information and services remain available to holiday makers and residents. Similar plans were agreed for the centre in Arundel.

The council’s leader, Gillian Brown, said: “It is very important to have a focal point in both Arundel and Bognor Regis.

“We are working very hard to ensure that happens in Bognor. We are in very serious talks with a private sector group to do the same in Bognor as is being done in Arundel.

“Both ourselves and the other group are keen to move the idea forward.”

Members were also given the results of a survey carried out at the centre which showed overwhelming support for the service to continue.

Jaqui Ball, the council’s head of strategy, partnership and economic and cultural development, told councillors the users of the Bognor centre were the most vocal of the three sites around the Arun District – making up 248 of the 307 responses.

“The survey showed people want a physical place where they can go and get information and look at maps.

“Another important thing that came out of the survey was how valuable the service provided by the centre’s members of staff was,” she said.

Norman Dingemans, the council’s cabinet member for economic and cultural development, said: “Having a physical presence in a town is very important. We know the Look and Sea Centre in Littlehampton works very well and hopefully we can sort out something similar with Bognor.”

Bognor’s visitor information centre is being closed by Arun as part of a package of money-saving measures.