THE future of Corbridge Tourist Information Centre is not all doom and gloom and the model is set to be used as part of a new strategy for facilities across the county.

That was the message from chairman of Corbridge Parish Council, Coun. Maurice Hodgson, who met with county council officials following the news that tourist information centre staff in the village had been instructed to pack up their stock so it could be shipped back to County Hall.

Services provided by the council’s charitable leisure arm Active Northumberland, including the retail offer within tourist information centres, are being reviewed and scaled back as part of attempts to make savings of £3.5m over the next two years.

“We all know Active Northumberland is in the process of reorganising, but I have been assured it is doing that while protecting tourism, which it acknowledges is one of the main economic drivers for Northumberland,” Coun. Hodgson told the latest meeting of Corbridge Parish Council.

“While the retail side of the tourist information centre is being reduced, because that is not a core function, Paul Nichol, who is Active Northumberland’s tourism and visitor economy manager, has assured me that the library and TIC in Corbridge are not under threat.”

The library and tourism information centre were combined on to the ground floor of the county council-owned Hill Street building in 2009.

Since then, the library has been staffed by volunteers, with just one full-time member of staff overseeing both services.

By 2012, a 10-year lease had been negotiated with the county council for Corbridge Parish Council to take over the upstairs space as a youth and community building, and it has since been the permanent home of Corbridge Youth Initiative.

“The will be no changes to the library offer and no reduction in tourism information centre staffing,” said Coun. Hodgson.

“In fact the county council seems keen to use the model in Corbridge as a bit of a pilot going forward so I don’t think we have any reason to be concerned. It’s not all doom and gloom and I was encouraged by the meeting.”