VISITORS to the Shire of Dardanup now have somewhere to go for their tourism needs after the opening of the Dardanup Visitor Centre on the weekend.

Housed in the heritage-listed Don Hewison building in Dardanup, the centre will operate on weekends and will offer visitors to the region a host of services that were otherwise unavailable to them.

The centre is the brainchild of the Dardanup Tourism Committee and long-standing member Lou Standish who noticed the lack of tourist information facilities when she moved to the Ferguson Valley from Yallingup.

It was around this time that the once-condemned Don Hewison building had been restored so the committee applied to use the newly renovated building.

After receiving council approval the wheels were set in motion for what is now the visitor centre.

Mrs Standish said council and locals were very supportive of the centre and she had enormous faith that the Ferguson Valley was fast becoming a South West tourist hot spot.

At present the Ferguson Valley is experiencing a seven per cent population growth and has more than 10 cellar doors, bed and breakfast accommodation, a brewery and tourism road linkages through to Wellington Dam.

“We have to start somewhere and we will get there,” said Mrs Standish.

“We’re hoping to bridge the gap between visitor expectations and community reality.”

The centre will be run by a team of volunteers who will advise visitors on where to go in the Dardanup shire.

Work by local artists will be displayed in the centre and a brief history of the region will also feature.

Shire of Dardanup CEO Mark Chester welcomed the visitor centre and praised the efforts of the committee for their hard work in making it a reality.