Corby Tories' tourism policy proposals defeated

The opposition Conservatives’ “WeLoveCorby Tourism Policy” included employing a full-time tourism and marketing officer and establishing a marketing and events budget to encourage day trips and city breaks to Corby.

The initiative would have cost £100,000 a year and would have been paid for by incorporating the council’s leisure services into a trust fund which would raise the sum annually by avoiding liability for VAT and non-domestic rates.

But at a Corby Council meeting last night the motion was rejected by the ruling Labour group.

A Labour Party statement said: “The council has demonstrated its commitment to making Corby a place to live, work and play over many years.

“The evidence of that is all around us in the tremendous regeneration that has taken place.

2We do indeed “Love Corby” and are keen to promote tourism as well as encouraging as many people as possible in the area and beyond to use the leisure facilities the town now boasts following years of council led investment.

“We applaud the hard work of our own culture and leisure team who have delivered excellent results.

“We just need to look at our own international swimming pool, our increasingly popular bonfire and fireworks display, our nationally recognised woodlands and the recently completed cinema and restaurant complex.

“Added to this are our vastly improved shopping facilities, making Corby a destination of choice for those who want to shop, relax and enjoy a bit of entertainment in our bars and restaurants.

“These developments have been a huge success for our town.

“While welcoming the Conservative Ggroup’s commitment to improving the attractiveness of Corby as a tourist destination we cannot support their motion as it adds unsustainable costs to our budget at a time when, along with other local authorities, we continue to be hit by central Government imposed cuts.”

Lead member for culture and leisure at Corby Council John McGhee said: “We welcome this conversion to promoting Corby by the Conservative group but believe that their policy is a rebranding of the excellent work that has already been begun by the Corby Visitor Forum in establishing “Love Corby”.

“Since the website was launched in September last year, it has received 500 hits per month.

“Twitter and Facebook accounts have been set up.

“The suggestions made in the marketing section of the policy are welcome, particularly around social media marketing and the recommendation of producing a documentary, and these are ideas we will be communicating with the CVF. “However, financially this proposal does not stack up and the idea of putting our leisure services into a trust has been explored previously and found to not deliver the savings claimed for it.”