Taunton has an interesting BID history:
2007 - BID established after a YES ballot result, with a 5 year term ending in 2012.
2012 - BID renewal ballot resulted in a NO, so BID kicked out.
2014 - BID development ballot resulted in a NO again (with a worse result than in 2012).
2020 - Some bright sparks decide to bring BID back to ballot again, and the ballot was ‘suspended’ 2 hours before ballot closure for no good verifiable reason, so NO BID yet again! Interesting that when one of the BID proposer steering group members was asked what happened to the BID he replied “we knew it wasn’t going our way”.
The following is a series of articles are from the hard fought NO campaign for the 2020 ballot, which basically beat the Council and BID proposers into submission. You can see how the campaign developed and many strong evidence based NO arguments were put across, so please read with interest and feel free to copy / use any article tailored for your own NO BID campaign.
The following images are from the 8 page vote NO campaign booklet produced for the ballot. Download a copy here.
Taunton BID say BID’s don’t save Councils money but it’s not a true statement, it’s another deceitful YES campaign tactic, another mistruth to try and get your YES vote. It’s not something they can promise, and it’s simply wrong to try and reassure voters with such false promises. Read some Minehead BID examples we’ve compiled here and draw your own conclusions on whether the BID is saving Councils money at the expense of it’s levy payers.
Read MoreSWT failed in their legislated BID responsibilities by breaking government BID regulations, and with it Minehead BID as their ‘partners in crime’ have shown a lack of proper financial planning, accountability and transparency. Consequently, Minehead BID year 2 levy bills are invalid. Contrary to what Taunton BID say, this is just further proof of the way BID companies get away doing what they want, whilst leaving levy payers none the wiser.
Read MoreTaunton BID have been shining a light on Minehead BID, they ‘wheeled’ them into the business plan launch 22/1 and the Taunton BID Chairman gave a radio interview that week saying everyone is happy, really? There was a significant NO vote against the BID and opinion across the Minehead business community appears to remain split on whether there are benefits making it all worthwhile. Read some of the negative feedback we’ve received and you’ll soon see that some things don’t change from Taunton’s experiences last time, not everyone is happy, and we can’t trust the utopian picture Taunton BID are “selling”!
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