Agenda item

Council will receive a presentation on proposals relating to Go Grantham Business Improvement District from Stuart Pigram, Simon Beardsley, Sonia Braybrook and Rachel Chadwick.

The Chairman welcomed Stuart Pigram, Simon Beardsley, Sonia Braybrook and Rachel Chadwick from Go Grantham. They had been invited to give a presentation to the Council on Go Grantham’s proposals for a business improvement district (BID) in Grantham prior to the BID ballot. As a payer of non-domestic rates within the proposed BID area, the Council would be entitled to vote in the ballot, with the Council forming its view at the meeting to be held on 17 November 2016.

The presentation began with an explanation of what a BID was: businesses within a defined area would be required to pay an additional levy to fund projects within that area. Projects could range from environmental enhancements to collaborative learning and development. Any BID projects should be in addition to services already provided by the district council, not in lieu of them.

A prospectus for the BID had been produced, which was constructed around four main themes, including examples of how a BID could provide benefits:

·         Marketing Grantham – providing a website and central hub for businesses in the area and providing a high quality, targeted marketing, PR and promotion strategy

·         Supporting Grantham – business investment and support, business cost reduction through collaboration, town centre wardens and crime reduction schemes

·         Working in Grantham – providing training support for businesses, providing training courses to assist improve recruitment and retention of local people and partnership working

·         Visiting Grantham – promoting the heritage and history of the area, supporting events and festivals and shopping locally

Included within the presentation was a summary of the consultation that had taken place to date, with a brief explanation on the methodology used.

The BID levy would be set at 1.5% of a business’ rateable value, with an exemption for businesses with a rateable value of less than £7,000. Over the five-year life of the proposed BID £2.6m income would be raised through the levy.

Members were advised of the timeline for the BID ballot. Notice of the ballot would be sent by 19 October 2016, ballot papers would be issued on 2 November 2016, votes would need to be cast by 30 November 2016 and the result of the ballot would be announced on 1 December 2016. For the BID to be successful over 50% of those businesses who voted would need to vote in favour of the BID with those businesses that voted in favour of the BID representing over 50% of the rateable value of those who voted.

Within the wider context of South Kesteven, the Go Grantham representatives stated that the BID would help attract visitors to Grantham, from which the surrounding areas would also experience benefit, increasing the spend in the local area.

Simon Beardsley, who represented the Lincolnshire Chamber of Trade and Commerce spoke about the Chamber’s experiences on other BIDs that had been successful together with those that had not been successful. He advised Councillors that the Chamber had provided funding to support development work, reflecting its confidence in the approach that had been taken.

After the presentation, Members were given the opportunity to ask questions of the Go Grantham representatives. Topics raised during the question and answer session are summarised below:

·         The BID would give the opportunity to provide enhancements that attract people to the surrounding area by improving key gateways to the town; the example was given of the area around Grantham railway station

·         If the ballot was successful, the BID would come into effect from 1 April 2017. This gap between the ballot result and the commencement of the BID would provide sufficient time for arrangements to be made for its management and administration

·         Noting that charities were not exempt from the BID levy but schools were, members identified the potential for challenge with regard to academies. Assurance was given that there were agreed criteria against which non-domestic rate payers would be assessed as to whether they were eligible to pay the levy

·         The composition of the BID board would be defined in its constitution, which would be agreed by the Go Grantham Board should the ballot be successful; after it had been agreed, it would be shared with non-domestic ratepayers in the BID area. The Constitution would be designed so that special interests could not dominate Board decisions

·         There would be no guaranteed vote on the BID board for the district council however it would have the same opportunity to seek the election of a representative as any other business-rate payer in the area

·         Any new business looking to come to the town would consider the impact of any BID levy as part of their due diligence so they should factor in the additional costs

·         Educational establishments had been included in the consultation

Other general comments were made, in which Members expressed their support for the principle of a Grantham BID. The suggestion was also made that since the district council would, through the BID, be providing increased funding for improvements in the Grantham area, then it might also make similar contributions to support the development of other towns within the district. There was also some discussion about how the BID might enhance the festival offer within Grantham and the impact of that on council officers. A number of Members also commended the work that had been done to date on the production of the prospectus and in the development of the BID proposals.

The Chairman thanked the representatives from Go Grantham for the time they had given to present the BID proposals to members.

As the meeting had been in progress for three hours Article 4.6.4 of the Council’s Constitution required members to vote on whether to proceed. It was proposed, seconded and on being put to the vote agreed that the meeting should continue until the business listed on the agenda had been concluded.