Ripley's former Tourist Information Centre opened its doors again this week as a Safer Neighbourhood office for the police.
Amber Valley Borough Council closed the information centre, based in Ripley Town Hall, in November last year, as part of a cost-cutting bid to plug a forecast £2.5 million budget deficit.
The centre’s five-strong staff were among 80 posts which we
re axed as part of the restructuring which hit services such as arts initiatives, sports promotion and tourism the hardest.
In February this year the council relaunched the centre as a ‘one stop shop’ for advice on financial matters, including claiming housing and Council Tax benefits, as part of its ‘Helping You’ campaign to beat the credit crunch.
“As demand from people wanting to claim benefits reduced, it seemed appropriate to press forward with plans for the new police office in the Town Hall,” a spokesperson for Amber Valley Borough Council said.
Cllr Jack Brown added: “We felt that a police presence in the Town Hall would be an appropriate way of continuing this Helping You theme in the longer term and enable us to improve our ability to work with the police to tackle issues facing the local community.”
The office will not be permanently staffed, but regular police surgeries will be held on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and times when officers are available will be posted on the board outside.
The office was officially opened by Chief Supt Garry Sherwood, Cllr Brown and Cllr Peter Makin, mayor of Amber Valley.
Chief Supt Garry Sherwood said: “Officers will be more accessible to the public and we will be able to react more effectively to calls for service in the town centre.
“This will hopefully provide increased reassurance to residents and visitors to the area.”
