Voting has started on the controversial proposals for a Business Improvement District in Rye.
Around 290 of the town’s shops, pubs, restaurants and businesses are being balloted on a new levy which could raise over £90,000 for town centre upgrades and tourist promotion each year.
The postal vote began on Tuesday 13 January and runs until Thursday 12 February, with the result announced the following day.
The proposals have created a divided high street with some businesses saying the BID is the only way to improve Rye town centre in the face of local government cutbacks.
Opponents say a BID is unnecessary, another financial commitment in a tough economic climate, and a tax they will be forced to pay even if they disagree.
The charges that qualifying businesses would be made to pay over five years, if the plans go ahead, are based on each firm’s rateable value.
The postal ballot is being organised by Civica who provide election services for Rother District Council. The returning officer is RDC’s chief executive, Lorna Ford.
For the BID to be approved the ballot has to be won by both a majority of yes votes and a majority of the businesses rateable values.
If approved, Rye BID would come into force in April this year and run for five years.
Image Credits: Sue Forman , Rye BID .
I’m looking forward to seeing the results unfold and I want to thank the fantastic Rye Chamber of Commerce for the hard work they have done to make such a compelling case. Evidence from towns and cities across the UK shows that Business Improvement Districts can unlock significant additional investment, with many BIDs generating substantial funding that would not otherwise be available, alongside levering in further public and private sector support.
BIDs have been shown to increase footfall, support local businesses to grow, and fund practical improvements such as enhanced street cleaning, marketing, events, safety initiatives and public realm improvements. In many areas this has led to increased visitor numbers, stronger town centres and greater business confidence.
I recognise that not everyone is convinced that a BID is right for Rye. Some businesses have raised understandable concerns about the levy and whether the benefits will be felt equally across the town. Others value the informal, voluntary way in which businesses already support Rye and are cautious about formalising that through a statutory scheme. These views are important and deserve to be heard and respected.
We already have a strong community of businesses in Rye who give their time and resources generously. From what I have seen, read and discussed, a BID would build on that goodwill by formalising contributions, providing transparency and accountability, and securing a guaranteed return that can be reinvested in Rye, and I hope the whole of Rye will benefit. This presents a real opportunity to make the town even more attractive to visitors, while ensuring it remains safe, accessible and enjoyable for local people.
Unlike many other towns in which the High Street is dying, Rye is flourishing and often overrun with tourists. We do not need to attract more visitors or cause our small independent shops to have to find what is essentially another tax to support this BID.
The big problem of Rye is the structural neglect by the authorities. Our local heritage is what draws people, residents, businesses and tourists alike. What we need is for our councils to recognise the historic value of Rye and pay towards restoration, repairs and maintenance of the medieval infrastructure such the Landgate Arch, the frightful bit to mention dangerous hotch potch of cracked and broken concrete pavements, provide working toilet facilities for those tourists, manage provide sufficient litter bins to meet tourist demands etc… is t this what councils do?
The £90k that will be raised is a mere drop in the ocean needed to restore Rye. The management, staff costs and running of BID will soon take care of quite a large chunk of that.
For those larger businesses the additional tax may not affect them nearly as much as it will the number of small independent sole traders who make up the majority of businesses numerically. However as the voting value is not based on numbers but on size (ie. rateable value), the number of ‘NO’ votes will not necessarily be enough to outweigh the ‘YES’ votes rateable value of the larger businesses such as Jempsons, The Mermaid, The George when it comes to counting.
The debacle leading up to Christmas with the last minute threat of no Christmas lights just proved a point that the residents and businesses of Rye can pull together when needed and contribute what they can afford and see fit, and get it done. I doubt many would choose to contribute towards a ‘Mapp and Lucia’ event as proposed by BID.
Oh and by the way, for those businesses who don’t choose to vote for whatever reason please understand that your lack of vote will be a default ‘YES’!!!
If I may correct some misunderstanding here. 1) The early consultation document provided to businesses did include some suggestions of events and festivals but following the extensive public consultation these have been removed. The final business plan has a much greater emphasis on public realm improvements and this is directly as a consequence of the feedback and suggestions made by businesses in the town. 2) Not voting is absolutely not an automatic yes vote. For the BID to be constituted it will need to win the ballot on two majorities: it will need to have the majority of ‘yes’ votes and those ‘yes’ votes will also need to have a combined rateable value that is greater than the combined rateable value of the ‘no’ votes. This is an important check and balance to ensure parity between small and big businesses and is fundamental to all BID ballots. 3) a BID is designed to deliver a clear and measurable return to businesses on projects that they themselves determine. 4) Infrastructure issues in Rye will continue to be the responsibility of local government although Local Government Reorganisation means future care of assets like The Landgate is yet to be determined. 5) the final business plan on which eligible businesses are being asked to vote can be found at http://www.ryebid.co.uk there is also a comprehensive Q&A and a shorter fact sheet to help dispel myths.