Windsor’s tourist information was closed ‘under a veil of secrecy’ last month, the town’s new MP has said.
Windsor MP Jack Rankin criticised the council after the centre in the Guildhall on the High Street was closed without warning to the public on June 30.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead had touted the closure along with the town’s museum as a cost saving measure – but didn’t announce the date beforehand. Mr Rankin said the decision had taken place ‘under a veil of secrecy’ and could damage Windsor.
He said: “Tourism is vital to our local economy. With 12 million visitors to Windsor annually, it’s baffling that the council, can't sustain a single-room museum and tourist office in the heart of Windsor’s tourist centre.
“The negative impact this will have on our town’s businesses and tourist economy is worrying."
But Liberal Democrat councillor Amy Tisi, who is responsible for Windsor, said the Royal Borough council couldn’t announce the closure in June due to laws that restrict what councils can say in the run-up to an election.
The closure happened just days before the general election earlier this month. But election law says publicly-funded bodies can’t make statements in a pre-election period that could influence the result.
Councillor Tisi says this meant the council couldn’t announce the closure as it had become a ‘political issue’ between the Conservative candidate and Liberal Democrat council leaders.
She told the Observer: “Had a general election not been called a big announcement would have been made in June. Because of the timing of the general election and because Mr Rankin made a political point of it, it wasn’t appropriate to announce that.”
Councillor Tisi added that the centre’s two staff members – who have been made redundant – were consulted and notified beforehand. But she said it wasn’t possible to postpone the closure until after the election so that the public could also be told.
Mr Rankin has also accused councillors of a ‘lack of imagination’ about how the centre could generate income. He said the centre could have sold tickets for Legoland and French Brothers and Duck Tour river tours. He also said it could run a small gift shop.
He added: “The lack of imagination and action from Windsor’s Liberal Democrats councillors is simply not good enough. Windsor deserves much better from its local councillors.”
But councillor Tisi said the centre already had a shop. She said: “There already was a shop and it wasn’t enough and it wasn’t covering costs.
“We’d hope our MP would try and work with the council to try and solve these problems rather than taking political shots from a distance.”
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead says the number of in-person enquiries at the centre had fallen from 82,000 in 2015 to 16,500 in 2023.
It also says only six per cent of ticket sales through the centre were made in person and that its website is ‘by far the main way’ that visitors get information.
The Windsor and Royal Borough Museum currently still opens between 10am and 2pm on Tuesdays.
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