BOURNEMOUTH TOWN CENTRE BID BACKED FOR A FURTHER FIVE-YEAR TERM

The Chairman and the Chief Operating Officer of the Bournemouth Town Centre BID have welcomed the result of the ballot giving it a further five year term. Martin Davies and Paul Kinvig said they were ‘exceptionally grateful’ for the support of levy payers in the ballot, announced today (Thursday).

Voting figures were:

Yes by number: 76%

Yes by rateable value: 88%

Mr Kinvig, said: “A very big thank you to all our levy payers who voted for a further five year term for the Bournemouth Town Centre BID. We recognise and are grateful for the support in these difficult and challenging times.

“Even though the new term does not start until July we will not be waiting until then to implement our business plan for the next five years. Work begins now and we are hitting the ground running.

“We are fully aware of the significant changes and challenges our town centre faces and will continue to face in the next few years. It is vital that we play our part, along with everyone else who has an interest in and a love for the town, so that we can help shape change, rather than be a victim of it.”

Mr Kinvig added: “Our levy payers and our visitor surveys have given us a clear direction as to what is important to them, but also a clear direction for the local authority, statutory bodies and the commercial sector as to the strategy and activities they would like to see.

“It’s our job not only to work with our partners to facilitate real activity that makes a difference but also remain the voice of town centre business community.”

On Monday, the BID’s new Rapid Response Anti-Graffiti Team will be out in the town for the first time to clean up a number of sites where permission has been given by the site owners.

The BID is also spearheading the new multi-agency Business Crime Reduction Partnership and will be bringing back a series of successful street across the town centre.

Mr Davies said: “We are committed to working with all our levy payers, stakeholders and partners to meet and surpass the challenges we will inevitably face together. And as we laid out in our Business Plan, with a new mandate, we can now move forward with a range of initiatives and proposals to help make Bournemouth town centre a vibrant, sustainable and experiential destination, where residents and visitors will want to come more often and stay for longer.”

The Town Centre BID was first established in 2012 with a second successful ballot in 2017.