Regeneration Board backs BR BID’s Term 2!

At its Members Meeting on 1st February 2023, the Bognor Regis Regeneration Board voted to support the re-election of the BR Business Improvement District. Rebecca White, the Board’s Executive Director, commented “While we are not a BID levy payer, the Board was the original instigator of formal town centre management in Bognor Regis, coordinating funding of the Town Centre Manager role which was instrumental in setting up the BID in 2018. With that background, we have conducted an objective analysis of the BID’s impact against their original objectives – Welcoming Town, Well-Known Town, Active Night-time Town Centre and Better Parking. We examined the myriad initiatives that the BID has introduced over its first five year term, including the setting up of the Bognor Regis Crime Reduction Partnership; year-on-year installation of festoon lighting, public art and brightly coloured signage along key routes; promotion of the town pre- and post-Covid; working in partnership with local government to secure improvements to the town centre area; promotion of the town and its businesses through events and social and print media campaigns and last but by no means least, the support, advice and training offered to its members. Working in partnership, the BID has also enabled the continuation of the popular two hour parking disc scheme for the town.  In addition, the BID has played an important strategic role in providing place leadership, securing grant funding to implement and enhance projects which benefit the town centre and advocating for local businesses, ensuring its members needs are strongly represented to local stakeholders. The existence of a BID in Bognor Regis, as a non-profit limited company which is paid for and led by town centre businesses, has provided a route for direct engagement and consultation with business owners, which wouldn’t otherwise have been possible. The Board consider that the BID has been successful in achieving tangible outcomes against its original business plan, providing good value for money to its members and making a measurable and positive difference to Bognor Regis town centre.”

The BID’s proposals for Term 2 2023-2038, which can be viewed via https://www.brbid.org/term2, were agreed to be sound, building on the achievements made to date. In considering their position on the BID’s re-election, the Board’s members also assessed the potential alternatives for Bognor Regis in the event that the BID is unsuccessful in securing a further term. To the Board’s knowledge there is no informal or voluntary group in place which could deliver the activities, existing or proposed, which are currently undertaken by BR BID. In addition, removal of the BID levy funding system would mean that there would be no responsibility or imperative, on the part of landlords or larger businesses such as Butlin’s, to make any kind of contribution to future town centre development. We also recognise that local councils are already under significant financial pressure and consider it extremely unlikely that they would be willing to ask local residents to fund a similar proposition through their receipts of council tax. Dr Dave Cooper, Chair of BRRB, noted, “The abandonment of a BID-led approach to town centre management in these challenging economic times, with the resulting loss of activities, support and access to grant funding, is likely to set the town centre and its businesses back approximately ten years to a time when there was no formal avenue for local business owners to engage with and influence local stakeholders. For this reason and our objective assessment of the BID’s measurable success over the past five years, we are very happy to support their re-election and would encourage all eligible town centre businesses to vote yes to Term 2!”.

The BID’s Term 2 vote closes on 14th February 2023 with an announcement of the result expected on 15th February 2023.