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Business improvement district plan rejected by Bridgnorth businesses

Business improvement district plan rejected by Bridgnorth businesses

Sakege04 mins

City businesses voted against the proposal by 67 to 39.

Posting on her Love Bridgnorth Facebook page, Sally Themans, who had supported the plan, said she respected the decision and would wait for alternative ideas from the town’s business community.

If approved, companies within the BID area would have to pay a tariff on their business rates: two percent of their taxable value annually.

That money would have been used to promote the city and try to improve the area.

BIDs had previously been established in Shrewsbury and Oswestry.

An update after the Love Bridgnorth vote said: “Businesses in Bridgnorth have been given the option to vote, throughout November, on whether they believe the town center should form a Business Improvement District, or IDB.

“While the public expressed their opinion on this proposal, the decision was purely the prerogative of the BID area companies.

“This includes large national chains, as well as small independent retail, hospitality and service businesses and charities (which have a taxable value of more than £2,500) who would have made a financial contribution to the BID.

“The Printworks co-working space where we are based would have also paid tax and having seen the additional funding and benefits that BID towns such as Shrewsbury and Oswestry have been able to access and the footfall projects underway in these towns, he believed this would have brought “wider” benefits to Bridgnorth, so he was willing to pay a tax for these opportunities to improve our town.

“I completely respect the democratic process and the decision of Bridgnorth businesses that the majority do not want a BID as a way of moving our town forward.

“I look forward to alternative solutions from the business community to help our city during these difficult economic times.

“The important thing is that we, as a business community and as a wider community, continue to work together to make Bridgnorth the best it can be.”

Speaking before the vote, Graeme Christie, who was a member of the BID working group and runs several businesses including the city’s Green Shop, said the plan could provide big benefits to the city.

He said: “There are a number of things the BID can do for Bridgnorth.

“Firstly, Shrewsbury BID has been very successful in building links with Shropshire tourism and helping to turn it into a tourist destination.

“Bridgnorth is a visitor town – we have the castle, the funicular and the old town, and attracting tourists is another thing BID can do.

“They switched off the CCTV in Bridgnorth, but the BID could reactivate it and even hire a security officer or guard to patrol the town.”

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