Dryandra Country Visitor Centre to be managed by the Shire of Narrogin after committee calls for help

The Shire of Narrogin will take over management of the Dryandra Country Visitor Centre after the tourism committee approached the local government for help. The DCVC is a tourism and information centre for locals and tourists on the corner of Fairway Street and Park Street in Narrogin. The Shire was funding a manager’s position at the centre while a group of volunteers helped to run the store front. On April 12, DCVC chairman Brian Seale wrote to Shire chief executive Dale Stewart asking him to consider their request for a Shire employee to “take operational control of the management of the centre.” The request came after a DCVC committee meeting held on April 5. “The recommendation was clear that due to the recent resignation of the centre manager and the evident collapse of the committee in failing to attend meetings, the management of the centre has been ineffective and a new management structure is required,” Mr Seale wrote. “As such, the committee unanimously supported the concept of the recommendation in seeking the Shire views in consideration of a transitional process of a Shire employee taking operational control of the management of the centre and abandoning the current incorporated title, where I suspect a new title of the centre will be required.” Shire community development support officer Anna Prysiazha and acting community leisure and culture manager Sharon Bell prepared a report for the council meeting on May 25. The officers report said if the Shire was to assume management of the DCVC, it would not only manage the centre but help it grow. “Establish standards for providing consistent, quality information to visitors; create the desired customer experience; and provide a compelling staff training program to build capability across the network,” they said in the report. “Sell the benefits so that visitors know what to look for and would actively seek out branded visitor centres’ places of interest, services, and products. The officers’ recommended that council noted the DCVC had resolved to formally wind-up the association, request the Shire take over and distribute the remaining net assets and proceeds. They also recommended that council thank the board, volunteers and members for their “dedicated commitment and service to tourism for the district for many years”. Councillors unanimously voted to accept the nine recommendations, including the transition from community management to shire management as of June 1. Speaking after the meeting, Shire president Leigh Ballard said despite the change of hands, the centre would remain “pretty much the same”. “The Shire has been funding the DCVC the last eight or 10 years and the primary of that funding has been the cost of the manager,” he said. “We will now manage that — one of our officers are now in charge — to help manage the volunteers and products for sale. “Hopefully the volunteers will get a bit more support from the officer.” DCVC’s current volunteer organiser Coral Mahony said the transition would take a load off some of the volunteers. “We had a manager here four days a week that was paid for by the Shire, and she has now left,” she said. “We were covering banking, paying bills and the telephone but now the Shire will take care of that. “We will be volunteers and will continue to man the place.” Ms Mahony said the centre was still in need of volunteers. “We need as many volunteers as we can get because we are open seven days a week,” she said. “We have two shifts, morning and afternoon and weekend shifts all of various hours. “Any volunteers that would be able to offer a few hours a month or a week would be great.” The shire plans to relocate the visitor centre to the Narrogin Heritage Railway Precinct, which is nearing completion.