Agenda item

Decisions:

1.   That the re ballot for Neath BID be supported by the Council to aid the recovery of town centres.

2.   That the Council act as ballot holder for the purpose of the re ballot.

Reason for the Decisions:

Neath BID has been supported over the past 5 year term and has improved the town centre, as a result a BID in Port Talbot was supported by NPTCBC in 2019.  Neath BID is approaching the end of its term (March 21) and is keen to continue.

Implementation of Decisions:

The decision will be implemented after the 3 day call in period.

Consultation:

Businesses had been consulted over the previous two months by Neath Inspired to inform them of the current situation and to determine what improvements for the next term would be beneficial.  A business perception questionnaire was undertaken to determine what businesses would like to be addressed and what improvements they would wish to see.  The information will be utilised to form their next five year proposal that will be made available to all businesses within the BID area prior to the ballot.

The consultation was carried out with over 50% of levy payers, from which 87 of the 125 consulted returned the questionnaire. Those results showed that 72% were in favour of the BID continuing, 10% were not in favour and 13% were undecided. 5% failed to comment on that particular question.