Council votes to keep links with Shrewsbury business project
Shropshire Council has voted in favour of renewing Shrewsbury's business improvement district for a further five years.
The town's BID is nearing the end of its five-year term and a ballot of all businesses within the defined BID area will take place from September 27 to October 25 where businesses will be asked to vote for or against a second term of the BID which would start next year.
Shrewsbury's Business Improvement District (BID) and partners have invested £1.6 million into projects in the town over the last five years, and expect to invest a further £2 million over the next five years.
A BID is a defined area in which a levy is charged on all business rate payers in addition to their business rates bill.
The levy collected is then used to develop projects to benefit businesses and improve the trading environment.
Shropshire Council has a number of properties within the BID area and the current levy per year is £24,484.
The authority's cabinet discussed the renewal on Wednesday.
Councillor Nic Laurens, portfolio holder for economic growth, said: "I want to thank the BID for their existing work.
"They've been really keen and things like the Big Town Plan and the tourism work brings a lot to the county and are so important for our economic growth.
"46 per cent of our shops are independent and they make such a difference to our wonderful town, it's a really good thing that we're supporting.
"There's a slight increase in the area so it's now going to incorporate Abbey Foregate and regenerate it as a food destination."
Shrewsbury BID is an independent, not-for-profit company, dedicated to delivering projects, programmes and services that improve the trading environment for businesses in Shrewsbury town centre, which has about 500 members.
