I can remember last year before Christmas when we had that big accident involving a bus and a van, the one that shut down the buses etc. When it came to going home we tried to visit this centre to get information, low and behold it was shut when at a time like that it should have been opened. What made me even more angry was the fact there was someone working in there on their computer. What a waste of time having it their when its not even open when the town needs it the most. That day was god awful to try and find out when or even if the buses would run again. Kids leaving school for the day were wondering how they were going to get home. No information was available unless you wanted to spend your time running after bus drivers etc. From what I could tell its not even open at prime travel time. So yes waste of space, waste of money and tells me nothing that I can't find out from the short walk to the bus station itself. Get rid of it, or clean it up and make it work all day Monday to Saturday!.

I would make it into a bookies or bar - every other shop seems to be going that way in the town.

How I agree with all the criticisms of this ridiculous folly, it makes my blood boil every time I walk past it. Not only is it hardly ever open, but on the rare occasions it is, it's invariably empty except for one bored looking council employee gazing vacantly out of the window. It took forever to build, casting the library foyer into constant gloom and the printed information it contains is readily available, both in the library right next door or in the excellent (and manned) tourist information centre at The Kings Head.

I told you so. - But then I get accused of being a serial whinger.
When I talked about the many instances where OUR money has been wasted I was berated and yet today's Herald contains news about three white elephants.
The fountains in Kingsbury - around £70,000 could be spent on water monitoring & cleaning equipment with anticipated savings of £53k per annum - so the council is wasting around £75k p.a. to maintain this water feature - whilst people aren't allowed to play on it in the summer and the water clock has hardly ever worked.
The daft bridge - although the lift has only been operational since late December, firefighters have already been called to release a man who was trapped - of course, if a proper bridge had been built in the first place you wouldn't need to waste loads more money adding lifts as an afterthought.
And the information folly - sorry, booth - not only did it cost a fortune to build but how much is this monstrosity costing to keep running? I dread to think what the heating and electricity costs are.

Only recently were we told that 10% of shops in town are empty - perhaps the council should invest in ways to attract business rather than ways to 'improve' our environment.

Water clock? Didnt know we had a water clock, can't even imagine what this water clock looks like, I can honestly say I have never seen it or even been aware of it. Got to be a waste of money then, hmm I wonder how many other people have asked the same question I just have.

1.) Imagine how much the giant video screen cost and also the insurance for it.

2.) The bbc news ticker moves so slowely and all the information on it is useless

3.) Why can't they make it show bbc news ?

Well said Mary Baldwin.

What a waste of £750k. It's useless and contributes nothing to the town either aesthetically or practically.

That money should have been spent in schools or on the elderley.

Its nice to see the council burning our money like there is no tomorrow. A useless Info site, its been Foggy and -2 degrees for months now according to the information and the lights on the new bridge are on during the day too, more likely 24 hours. Money to burn...our money. That would have filled a lot of potholes too.

I have tried 3 times recently to get into this information centre , going at the opening times which are displayed on the door,but I have never found it open, So I agree what use is it, and what a waste of money building it,

It's OK folks the county council is still planning on sending jobs out of the county/country so the savings we will get in not paying local people can be used to pay for these white elephants. Of course no one will be able to afford to use public transport as they will all be on the dole (sorry, job seekers allowance) but that shouldn't stop us applauding this councils ability to waste so much money while disguising it as 'inprovements to the enviroment'

I think the best inprovement would be the county councillers strung up along the main arterial routes they have managed to bring to a crawl