BRIDPORT Town Council will spend £20,000 on necessary refurbishments to the Tourist Information Centre.

Changes are afoot at Bridport TIC as the town council prepare to take over its management from West Dorset District Council in the new year.

Discussions are currently underway to finalise plans and councillors want to spend the money as they hope the new TIC will become ‘the public face of Bridport.’ At last week’s finance and general purposes committee, town clerk, Bob Gillis, said: “I am very pleased to say that a transfer date for the TIC has now been confirmed for January 1. We all know it will be very good for the town and will have much to offer as a standalone entity.”

Initially, the TIC will be financed by £150,000 of transitional funding from the district council, with all expenses and income from the start of the year becoming the responsibility of the town council.

Mr Gillis told councillors: “We need to get the TIC up and running as soon as possible and get that back in three or four years.”

He added that whilst the TIC will be under control of the town council, manager Terri Foxwell will be given a ‘free reign’ to run the business.

Ms Foxwell said: “Eventually our aim is to become a real local hub for all events. We are already working towards this as we are taking sales for the Folk Festival and other events.

“My vision is that we will be a benefit to Bridport Town Council, be able to support town events, and in three to four years should be completely self sufficient.”

The £20,000 will be spent on changing the layout if the TIC to increase storage capacity and allow more room for sales as retail will now feature in the centre.

Town surveyor Daryl Chambers said: “It is quite an ambitious shop floor. The logo and signage that is in there at the moment will be changed and will all be rebranded with the Bridport sign rather than the district council’s”

The money to fund the refit will come from existing capital reserves and is set to take place in January next year while the centre remains open Mr Chambers said the money was an investment in Bridport assets as he urged councillors to agree to the recommendation of £20,000.

He said: “We have been waiting a very long time for the TIC to be run by Bridport Town Council as it should be. I openly admit we want to make the biggest splash we have made in quite a while- we want to open with a bang.”

Councillors agreed with the recommendations, concluding that the money was a good investment.

Cllr Gillian Massey said it was a good use of existing capital reserves as the TIC ‘will be the public face of Bridport.’