Business Improvement District Development Study - Merthyr Tydfil ...

Merthyr Tydfil Business Improvement District Development Study
for a BID? The legislation stipulates that in order for a BID to be
established there must be a majority in favour both in terms of the
number voting and by the aggregate amount of rateable value that those
voting represent. It should be stressed that it is the majority of turnout
not of the overall constituency which is required. In the ballots to date the
average turnout has been 45%. If we apply this to the 266 voting
hereditaments which we have modelled for one of the scenarios in
Merthyr Tydfil then 60 Yes votes are needed in order to secure a
majority in favour of establishing a BID.
Whilst it would be foolish to approach the preparation of the marketing
plan on the basis of winning 60 votes, it is nevertheless helpful in the early
stages of consultation to get a realistic handle on what the likely target
might be. In each location that we have undertaken the canvassing work,
which is the cornerstone of the campaign, we have aimed to see every
voting business at their premises. Typically 60 -70% could be set as an
aspirational target. However the scale of the task must not be
underestimated. To arrange a single interview could involve multiple
phone calls. Prospective voters will often never have heard of BIDs, and
while some of the issues will be of concern to them they will rarely be at
the top of their list of priorities.
This is why the campaign strategy looks to begin with a small number of
businesses who quickly grasp the concept and see the opportunity. They
become members of or close to the steering group. It is notoriously hard
to attract attendees to early events, and the Merthyr Tydfil visioning
event was no exception. However from our discussions we feel that
there is the potential to begin convening a group that could take
responsibility for developing the BID proposition for the centre.
Importantly it is this group who must take authorship and ownership of
the programme, supported by the council and others resources that can
be made available through consultants. And it is this group which must be
the face of the ballot campaign – though clearly the responsibility for
executing the canvassing and other aspects must lie with others.
Once the decision is taken in principle to test the BID proposition at
ballot the status of the steering group will evolve into a shadow board.
Positions will be formalised and a corporate entity formed. There is
sufficient documentation available to frame the governance of these two
stages of development.
Another consideration in Merthyr Tydfil is how the BID relates to other
bodies which share some of the aims around developing and promoting
the centre/area. In other places town centre partnerships or management
regimes have transformed into BIDs. What can we deduce from
experience elsewhere that can be applied to the Merthyr setting?
It is important to establish strong, mutually supportive relationships
where there are existing organisation and agencies. There may be
some mistrust of an arriviste BID. This can be problematical when
there is overlap in terms of programme or geography. BIDs have run
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