Cirencester business community to have their say on Business Improvement District proposals
Cotswold District Council has announced the launch of a major consultation with local businesses as part of a feasibility study, on the possible creation of a Business Improvement District (BID) in Cirencester town centre.
Councillor Tony Dale, Cabinet Member for Economy and Council Transformation, at Cotswold District Council, said: “The consideration of a BID in Cirencester represents an enormous opportunity for town centre businesses. We anticipate it could generate around £150,000 per year to enable focus on projects such as events, marketing, environmental improvements and measures to maintain safety & security. This will increase the vitality of the town, thus increasing footfall and vibrancy across the town centre area.”
The cost of the feasibility study is being met by the Government’s ‘Welcome Back Fund’ which aims to help town centres recover from the Coronavirus pandemic. The Welcome Back Fund is financed by the European Regional Development Fund
The consultation will see all town centre businesses being invited to take part in a survey to assess their views on whether to create a new organisation which would undertake projects aimed at improving business performance in Cirencester. Businesses in the Love Lane area will also be consulted to see if they would wish to be included in the BID.
Cllr Dale continued: “We need to establish the willingness for such a project at every step of the way. We are therefore initially urging as many businesses as possible to spare just 2-3 minutes to tell us what they think via the survey.”
Throughout the consultation period, businesses will be asked to identify the priority projects which they consider would boost trade and to outline whether they would support the creation of a BID as the vehicle to achieve this, which would require them to vote to pay a small additional sum on their annual Business Rates.
Heartflood have been commissioned to carry out the independent survey which will run until the end of March, with businesses having the opportunity to participate either online or via a written questionnaire. The results of the survey will form part of an overall assessment of the feasibility of a BID in Cirencester.
If your business is located in the town centre, please take part in the survey: Cirencester Town Centre BID Feasibility Study Survey