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Week commencing Thursday, 8 June | 2017 | Edition 879
13750 copies delivered weekly
www.freetimes.com.au
O’Dempsey life sentence
Winter festivals hotting up p
Ladies Day at ‘The Rats’
Regency Park raises the roof
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PAGES 6-7
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Warwick VIC tick By Jeremy Sollars
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Warwick
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Seeking out views: Federal Maranoa MP David Littleproud, centre, with Southern Downs MP Lawrence Springborg, Primary Health Network CEO Simone Finch, Wendy Agar of Sunrise Way and Sergeant Shane Reid at the Warwick Town Hall this week. For details from Tuesday night’s community ‘ice’ forum turn to page 5.
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HOT PRICE
Public views sought on ice scourge at town hall meeting
12337217-CG03-17
The Warwick Visitor Information Centre is not due to undergo an on-site accreditation inspection by Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) until September next year but the contractor who performs the inspections says the centre meets current state tourism standards. TEQ is the State Government statutory body which oversees tourism marketing and development in Queensland, with one of its functions being to monitor the performance of Visitor Information Centres across the state and issue accreditation. Fully-accredited visitor centres are entitled to display the blue and yellow logo familiar to travellers, and must meet certain criteria involving opening hours and access to car parking. Wayne Clift, who is a private contractor and tourism consultant engaged by TEQ to perform accreditation inspections of Visitor Information Centres across Queensland said the Warwick ‘VIC’ undergoes an on-site inspection every two years, with a “desktop” accreditation review conducted in the intervening 12 month period. The re-location of the Warwick VIC earlier this year from the Warwick Art Gallery to the Town Hall has been seen by many local tourism operators as a retrograde step, with one even describing its ground floor digs in the Town Hall as “the tourism cupboard”. Critics have also labelled poor access to car parking for visitors as another issue, along with reduced volunteer numbers and opening hours. But Mr Clift told the Free Times this week the Warwick VIC meets current standards for State accreditation, including meeting the minimum opening hours requirement of 42 hours in every seven-day period. Continued page 3
CA$H FOR $CRAP CAR BODIES REMOVED Also Buying Old Farm Machinery
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