Councillors have supported a proposal to vote ‘no’ in the forthcoming election for the Bedford Business Improvement District (BID).
BedfordBID, which has operated since 2005 is about to go into the election for its fifth five-year term (BID5), to start on April 1, 2025 if a ‘yes’ vote is achieved. Voting, which involves businesses and landlords within the BID area, takes place on October 17.
But Bedford Borough Council’s executive committee voted, at its September 11 meeting, to support a proposal by Cllr Andrea Spice, portfolio holder for economic growth, planning and prosperity, urging levy payers within the BID area to use their vote but requiring the council to use its vote to say ‘no’.
Due to the size of its property within the BID area the council has 29 votes out of a total of almost 400 and turnout in previous BID votes has previously been notoriously low.
Asked by Cllr Jane Walker whether the proposed ‘no’ vote was to oppose specific items or the whole BID, Cllr Spice told the meeting: “Sometimes it’s been difficult to understand what the proposal is in the BID. Questions have been asked and we have not always had the answers we were necessarily looking for – not the actions, just the answers.
“We find it sometimes difficult as a working relationship with our officers, but BIDs on the whole, are good. You can look up and down the country and you can find some outstanding work.
“We are not on the attack, we are not on anything. Everybody has a voice and everybody has a vote. We are just trying to be honest and transparent as to how we are going to vote.
“As I have continually said, it’s not a campaign for ‘no’ and it’s not a campaign against any person in particular, absolutely not. We are just looking at how our town centre looks within the BID area, how we have the working relationship and how we feel this is.”
BID director Christina Rowe told Eastern Echo: “While that is clearly disappointing for the BedfordBID team we respect the council’s view.
“We believe continuing a partnership approach is the best way to tackling issues to support businesses and strengthen our appeal as a town centre. We will continue to work hard to demonstrate a clear, robust renewal for a BID that has been delivering for Bedford over twenty years.”
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