Council preparing for return of tourists

Published on 29 May 2020

Council will prioritise the library and some tourism facilities for reopening with an influx of visitors expected in the coming weeks.

Council is aiming to reopen the Visitor Information Centre and Living Desert in mid-June after travel restrictions were recently eased.

Council's General Manager, James Roncon, said locals should prepare for a spike in tourism after the Premier opened the State up for travel, with a focus on regional areas.

"The return of tourism at relatively short notice presents some challenges for us, but we'll work to get things back up and running where we can," he said.

"I also understand that some people have mixed feelings about tourists travelling to the city, but I'd ask everyone to be accommodating and welcoming, and of course continue to practice social distancing."

Mr Roncon said Council's other priority was the return of the library, but conceded that reopening processes were proving more complicated than initially expected.

Reopening of various facilities can require a mix of temperature testing stations, online ticketing systems, record keeping for contact tracing, sanitisation, asset quarantine measures, and other measures as laid out in public health orders and  work health and safety directives.

"There's a lot of fine print involved and various strict conditions that must be met before we can open," he said.

"And those conditions continue to change regularly, so we're fighting a bit of a rolling battle to ensure we meet all our obligations in order to open.

"We also don't have the luxury of city Councils who can quickly procure all these required items to meet regulations.

"However we want to reassure everyone we're working as hard as we can within our limitations."

In other facility news, remote families will again be able to access library resources with the Outback Library service to return from June 1.

Users of the city's waste facility will also be pleased to hear that tip will be open from 8am-1pm seven days a week from June 7.

"We're pleased to be able to open that service again on a Sunday," said Mr Roncon.

"We understand everyone is eager for services to return to full capacity, but we again ask for patience as we ramp up operations steadily and safely as the effects of the pandemic gradually subside."