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.
SWT 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 MoreEven councils need to pause and consider the implications of having a BID in one of their towns, be absolutely sure it’s the best suited place management scheme, and have considered potential downsides and risks of BID for themselves. For a council, a BID ‘in their own back yard’ may not be as good as it first seems, particularly for a new LibDem administration inheriting a BID proposal they may not yet have fully examined, so as to ensure it doesn’t conflict with their values, strategy and plans for Taunton meeting their manifesto pledge of developing ‘vibrant and economically secure Town Centres’.
Read MoreBID’s are not truly democratic, they are central government and local authority backed business rate schemes they want forced in at any cost. The whole BID development and ballot process is set up in favour of trying to gain a YES vote whilst disadvantaging voting businesses that don’t really want a BID. For “NO vs YES” campaign’s it really is a “David vs Goliath” battle!
Read MoreTaunton BID have so far declined to make public the amount of Council money backing their YES campaign, but our own research shows SWT Council have given them £45,000. The key take-away from this is demonstration of Taunton BIDs’ lack of openness and transparency, and when you also consider their mistruths and lies, it becomes clearer by the day how BID’s operate and why Taunton BID can’t be trusted again.
Read MoreThis is our scrutiny of a Council Executive Decision signing a grant of £20,000 to the Taunton Chamber of Commerce for their Taunton BID ballot YES campaign. As you’ll see that it appears the Council have been presented with mistruths, granted a decent sum of public money too easily without much scrutiny, and there is further evidence Taunton BID are also deceiving the BID businesses about their real intentions and plans.
Read MoreUltimately BID proposals are carefully orchestrated marketing and public relations (PR) campaigns, by people with no real interest in what the majority of Taunton businesses really need or want. The marketing and PR specialists contracted by Taunton BID are ‘mercenaries’ paid for only one thing; to secure YES votes no matter what the cost, including telling ‘mistruths’ as we can demonstrate!
Read MoreTaunton BID refer people to their website for FAQ answers, but just how reliable and truthful are they? Well there are certainly a few mistruths in their FAQ’s, and here are 3 to show you. The failed Taunton BID 2007-12 was voted out, with contributing factors to it’s demise being reputational problems and poor transparency etc. These FAQ mistruths along with others we’ve identified do nothing to instill confidence that it will be any different this time.
Read MoreSome light hearted takes on Taunton BID, but with some very serious points about what is wrong with BID’s, and in particular the Taunton BID proposal.
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”!
Read MoreTaunton BID claim that with match funding they can build up a £2mn pot of gold, because most other BID’s do. Facts show us this is simply not true, making their claims nothing more than yes campaign propaganda, in an attempt to get this Council backed BID tax scheme forced on all businesses in Taunton. Can we really trust everything Taunton BID are saying?
Read MorePerhaps the Taunton BID proposers and their yes supporters not worrying about having to pay the private BID tax, should actually give some moral consideration to those small businesses that just don’t need the extra cost forced on them. When high street and town overheads are high enough as they are, and even Taunton is crying out for businesses to occupy units, why on earth do we want to discourage small independents from setting up, or even staying in town by having an extra mandatory business rate? BID affordability is proven to be an issue for many businesses.
Read MoreWe’ve collected feedback, concerns and questions that we’ve been receiving and filtered them through collectively to Taunton BID for their responses. Read for yourself and you'll probably agree that despite some acceptable replies, there are many worrying ones, make your own conclusions. But why do their answers matter so much? It's because it's a taste of what's to come from the same people if BID is voted in, and clear demonstration of many of the bad things about BIDs.
Read MoreVoting a BID in really is the start of a downward slippery slope to let the Council “off the hook” running basic services we already pay our business rates for, let alone encourage them to do better! In fact, latest national BID statistics show 39% of council baseline agreements for the provision of services are NOT being adhered to! We risk accepting this in Taunton too if we vote in the BID!
Read MoreTaunton already has one of the healthiest High Street’s in the UK, in fact we’re fairing better and beating hundreds of other town’s with BID’s. Let’s be grateful for what we’ve achieved so far, embrace the current efforts of SWT Council whilst recognising their future plans and initiatives already coming to regenerate and revitalise the town centre. And if businesses want to collaborate more there are other ways to do this without the need to tax businesses for the sake of it.
Read MoreTo show what we’re publishing is not personal opinion and unsubstantiated facts, but real current issues many businesses across the UK are experiencing today with BID’s, here’s a just small selection of headlines and comments you can read for yourself.
Read MoreLet’s not let our town centre businesses spend money on what is an unpopular stealth tax and risk Andover like headlines which could be damaging for our lovely town Taunton has already voted in a BID and later rejected one twice, clearly the first BID didn’t live upto the expectations of the majority of voting businesses, and we risk doing the same again.
Read MoreTaunton BID are not really consulting on whether we want a BID, it's all about what to put in it and the start of full-on YES campaign. The word ‘consultation’ is a bit of a misnomer, the plans and momentum towards a Taunton BID are very well developed already whether we want it or not!
Read MoreThere are businesses within the proposed Taunton BID area, that despite contributing to the local economy employing staff and buying local products & services, receive no sales revenue from Taunton or the surrounding area. Fact is, for those businesses the BID will only ever be a poor investment.
Read MoreBID’s are partnerships between local authorities and local businesses, with local authorities having core roles and responsibilities in the development and management of BID’s. Considering local authorities play such a key role in enabling BID’s, we wonder why the Taunton BID proposers are so careful not to highlight this fact. It’s actually hard to find an example of a local authority in the UK that has publicly declared an objection to voting a BID scheme in, I wonder why? It’s easy, it’s because they know they are onto a good thing!
Read MoreCouncil's should abstain from voting so it truly becomes a decision by the BID businesses we are being told the BID is for and will decide. How would you feel if Taunton BID was voted in by such a slim majority that it was the council votes that swung it, and not really the businesses that have been told by the BID proposers that it’s they who will decide?
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