So everyone votes for a tax that doesn't yet have anything to spend it on apart from the administration and salaries of the employed staff!
Not everyone, only businesses that are in the BID area. It is not a tax on the residents of Newbury, even if they live in the BID area. If you are one of the business owners, then you are included but if not why are you concerned about what they spend the collected money on and who administers it, that's down to those same business owners if they wish to put themselves up to serve.
Not everyone, only businesses that are in the BID area. It is not a tax on the residents of Newbury, even if they live in the BID area. If you are one of the business owners, then you are included but if not why are you concerned about what they spend the collected money on and who administers it, that's down to those same business owners if they wish to put themselves up to serve.
Its not only the business owners that are affected but also the taxpayers and residents where initiatives such as the "Vision" cause such fundamental changes that livelihoods are put at risk and the character of the town could and has been severely affected. Saying that it is nothing to do with those not involved in voting on the BID is a fallacy. We are all affected by it either by the way the town changes or the taxpayer money that has been and will be put into it.
The money that they are likely to collect has no direction at the moment. Looking at other organisations (Chamber of Commerce, Newbury Retail Association, Town Centre Partnership etc) they have cost taxpayers money (WBC puts my money into these as it has done with the BID - look who's paying the costs incurred so far) and in many case have been directed and controlled by WBC and other key characters.
I am also concerned because any money that goes to the BID is money that businesses need and expect to recover in some way. As a resident and customer I end up paying more for this when retail prices are increased.
I really am in favour of the concept what I am concerned about is that the implementation doesn't like its going to deliver much and doesn't look cost effective.
Not everyone, only businesses that are in the BID area. It is not a tax on the residents of Newbury, even if they live in the BID area. If you are one of the business owners, then you are included but if not why are you concerned about what they spend the collected money on and who administers it, that's down to those same business owners if they wish to put themselves up to serve.
Excuse me if I seem doubtful about this! How many times in the past have we heard statements like this and how much has it cost taxpayers for similar organisation that have sprung up?
My feeling is that it will only mean the same people who want to control Newbury get more funding to do so.
Does not what happens in the town center affect all taxpayers to some extent so why leave something as important as that to a few businesses? As this is what has fundamentaly gone wrong in the past I think more thought needs to be given to the scheme.
At the moment not for or against, apart from ensuring a small minority don't run Newbury, but fail to see exactly what it is trying to acheive.
i would be far more willing to say good idea if there were clear pathways made but it seems its just someone has heard of a Bid elsewhere so we should have one too? As usual with Newbury?
The BID is funded by the business owners. What it is trying to acheive are improvements to provide a safe and viable business area. The BID has objectives which are supplementary to the provision of services by WBC. The business owners are already entitled to the normal maintenance and refurbishment of the area which would be provided by WBC. lighting, policing, cleaning etc because they pay their rates (council tax) just like the rest of us. I'm not quite sure why Bartholomew and Cognosco feel that the business owners shouldn't have, as a group, a say in how the area works. I agree that our town centre is not only for the shopkeepers, it is also for us, the public, but do we believe that the shopkeepers are going to use the money to ring the area with barbed wire to keep the customers out. Of course not, it is in the interest of the BID to improve the area for the visitors and because of that, then they will then attact people who might want to go elsewhere to shop. Once again, it seems that the belief is that a few people run the town centre and that may or may not be true but would you believe that they are doing it to the detriment of the town. To be realistic, the people who run the town are WBC. They are the group who decide if we will have a new shopping centre or where the buses and taxis will run from and to and if we should have cobbles or tarmac. They, WBC, may pop along to the various groups, TCP or the Retail Association or the Town Council to try to drum up support for their plans and sometimes try to do this in a way which deflects the fallout towards those groups rather than towards themselves. As far as the concern that the cost of the bid will fall back on the shoppers, well in a way, that is the case, but the business owners already pay a great deal of money in Rates and the BID is a very small amount on top. This extra will not, or should not affect retail prices otherwise, if it did, the shops would not be competitive. The premise is that extra customers through their doors will make up for the investment plus as a body, they can negotiate better terms for such things as rubbish collection, publicity, events and group security.
The BID is funded by the business owners. What it is trying to acheive are improvements to provide a safe and viable business area. The BID has objectives which are supplementary to the provision of services by WBC. The business owners are already entitled to the normal maintenance and refurbishment of the area which would be provided by WBC. lighting, policing, cleaning etc because they pay their rates (council tax) just like the rest of us. I'm not quite sure why Bartholomew and Cognosco feel that the business owners shouldn't have, as a group, a say in how the area works. I agree that our town centre is not only for the shopkeepers, it is also for us, the public, but do we believe that the shopkeepers are going to use the money to ring the area with barbed wire to keep the customers out. Of course not, it is in the interest of the BID to improve the area for the visitors and because of that, then they will then attact people who might want to go elsewhere to shop. Once again, it seems that the belief is that a few people run the town centre and that may or may not be true but would you believe that they are doing it to the detriment of the town. To be realistic, the people who run the town are WBC. They are the group who decide if we will have a new shopping centre or where the buses and taxis will run from and to and if we should have cobbles or tarmac. They, WBC, may pop along to the various groups, TCP or the Retail Association or the Town Council to try to drum up support for their plans and sometimes try to do this in a way which deflects the fallout towards those groups rather than towards themselves. As far as the concern that the cost of the bid will fall back on the shoppers, well in a way, that is the case, but the business owners already pay a great deal of money in Rates and the BID is a very small amount on top. This extra will not, or should not affect retail prices otherwise, if it did, the shops would not be competitive. The premise is that extra customers through their doors will make up for the investment plus as a body, they can negotiate better terms for such things as rubbish collection, publicity, events and group security.
I think that you completely missed the point I was making. The business owners are obviously fully entitled to a say in how the area works. The issue is the way in which this is to be achieved. I said that I am in favour of the principle of a BID. What I am concerned about is that we as tax payers will, once again, be paying through WBC (yes they do contribute to the BID and have done to get it to this point - any idea how much so far?) for an unknown benefit. If the BID business plan was more obvious in what the benefits are it would be easier to be positive about it. Yes there are minor things such as collective purchasing and rubbish collection but is this value for money? What does the BID really intend to achieve? If its to increase footfall and retail profits, then a lot more than what is described in the business plan is needed.
Brian, you have made a few false assumptions here and clearly are defensive but can you really tell all here the business plan as described will deliver significant improvements to Newbury businesses? A "safe and viable business area" as you describe it is not what I see in the BID budget.
Brian, you have made a few false assumptions here and clearly are defensive but can you really tell all here the business plan as described will deliver significant improvements to Newbury businesses? A "safe and viable business area" as you describe it is not what I see in the BID budget.
I would hope that I'm not seen as defensive about the BID. It seems to me that several of the people posting on here have mis understood what a BID is, mainly as far as I can see, assuming it was a tax on the population as a whole. I can only assume that they haven't bothered to research what it is, or could be if it works properly. I have no axe to grind and I am not a retailer or business person in the BID area but I do believe that proper self regulation is the way to go and perhaps the group might have the clout to tell WBC what they want rather than accepting crumbs off the table.
I would hope that I'm not seen as defensive about the BID. It seems to me that several of the people posting on here have mis understood what a BID is, mainly as far as I can see, assuming it was a tax on the population as a whole. I can only assume that they haven't bothered to research what it is, or could be if it works properly. I have no axe to grind and I am not a retailer or business person in the BID area but I do believe that proper self regulation is the way to go and perhaps the group might have the clout to tell WBC what they want rather than accepting crumbs off the table.
You have made some assumptions here about others saying that it is a tax on the population. We all know that its the businesses that will vote and pay the direct tax. We, as residents, will also pay indirectly with the council contributing as they do to other organisations.
Your stance in a previous post was asking what its got to do with anyone who is not in business in Newbury. I have explained that it has a lot do with it and you then agreed.
I would be more than happy if this BID was successful. I am and have been questioning why businesses are voting for something that is not properly defined and in fact the NRA are still discussing what the income could be used for. I would have thought that the currently poorly defined aims of the BID need to be properly understood before voting for the levy takes place.
With regard to having the "clout to tell WBC what they want" there have been a number of organisations that have been independent enough to do this but the self regulation you talk about hasn't happened. The Newbury Retail Association could have done exactly this but couldn't organise themselves to do this. I hope the BID is different and is successful.
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