27 October (Part 2) - Make your BID
Bexley’s
Places Scrutiny Committee devoted ten minutes of its last meeting to BIDs
which if you wade through to the end of its Agenda report you will eventually
find translated to Business Improvement Districts. For the uninitiated that is
an organisation which operates under the auspices of Bexley Council - they used
to share both premises and email addresses - and has the power to levy extra ‘taxes’ on shops and
for inexplicable reasons, Sidcup schools too, with the aim of making them more profitable.
Their ambition is to extend their powers beyond
Bexleyheath where it has operated for about twelve years
and Sidcup to Welling and Bexley Village and Cabinet Member Cafer Munur appeared keen to make such a move.
“Wherever we can create a BID we will do so.”
Councillor Cameron Smith (Conservative, St. Mary’s & St. James) thought that
successful BIDs may disadvantage the smaller High Streets economically.
He said the Traders’ Association in Bexley Village is very active but how can they
compete? Is there any scope for joint BIDs with other small shopping centres?
For the record the Abbey Wood (Wilton Road) TA was a victim of Covid and effectively dead having not met since February 2020.
Cameron was told that there were as yet no joint BIDs but it may be possible to provide support to Traders’ Associations.