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Wellingborough’s Business Improvement District
Published Tuesday 21st December 10
Members of Wellingborough Council’s Development Committee will be asked to endorse proposals to improve the town centre’s business environment at a meeting on 4 January.
Work has started to enable a Business Improvement District (BID) in the town and it is recommended that councillors endorse, in principle, the business plan and proposals.
The BID is an initiative led by businesses that gives them opportunities to implement schemes to increase footfall, improve sales and reduce costs. It is funded by all of the businesses in the BID area contributing a yearly amount of 2% of their rateable value which, for most, would be less than £1 a day. The money raised by the contributions will be used by the businesses for promotion and marketing, town centre events and improvements to the environment.
BIDs are a national success story and local towns benefitting from them include Northampton , Daventry and Bedford . Wellingborough Town Centre Partnership decided in March 2009 to pursue its own BID and is now getting ready for businesses to vote on it. In order for the BID to become a reality, over 50% of businesses must vote in favour and the businesses that vote 'yes' must represent more than 50% of the rateable value of all votes cast. If the BID comes into practice, it will start on 1 June 2011 and run for three years and all business within the BID area, except those with a rateable value of less than £3,000, will pay the levy.
As Wellingborough Council owns a considerable amount of town centre property, the Development Committee members will also decide at the meeting on 4 January whether to delegate the responsibility of voting for those properties to the council's Corporate Director for Resources.
Chairman of the Development Committee, Cllr Graham Lawman, said: "A BID is a way for businesses in our town centre to take control of their own marketing and environment. If successful, they will use the money generated for projects and services that all the businesses agree are important to them. They can put initiatives in place that go above and beyond the services that are offered by the council. In these tough times, it is a fair way to ensure we stay competitive - all businesses in the BID area pay a modest amount, relative to their size, but together it could raise more than £100,000 a year, which is a significant sum that could be used to make real improvements."