Dingwall business improvement district plan comes under scrutiny as sceptics launch opposition campaign
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AMBITIOUS proposals which supporters claim could be a game-changer for Ross-shire's county town have been dealt a blow by opponents sceptical of the benefits and concerned about the costs.
A high-profile drive to create a business improvement district (BID) in Dingwall comes in the wake of similar schemes across the country, amongst them Inverness and Nairn.
But as Businesses Against Dingwall BID (BADBID) was launched at a meeting in the town this week, concerns were voiced about some of the negative impacts opponents say have been witnessed in other BID areas.
Under the scheme, businesses within a defined area pay an agreed levy to fund projects aimed at increasing footfall and general prosperity for all.
Kelvin Ambrose, of MacDonald’s Hardware in Dingwall, and William Deas, who owns a number of businesses in the town, were amongst those sceptical about the scheme.
Mr Ambrose insisted he was not involved in a "BID-bashing exercise" but had grave concerns after researching the impact of similar schemes around the country.
He said: “The one thing that is a common thread is BID harvest and deploys misinformation, that is what comes through. It tells you all the right things like it encourages business but it doesn’t happen, and the more BIDs that I have seen in Scotland and in England, it is a failure.
“Nobody has told me how footfall has made a difference in any of the BIDs. When Dunoon’s BID went in nine businesses went out of the High Street within two years. That doesn’t help footfall.”
One of the hottest issues of the night was cost of the levy with critics decrying the relative percentages to be paid by businesses in the town according to their rateable value. That would mean smaller businesses paying a greater percentage than was fair – something denied by Dingwall BID.
Mr Ambrose said the banding system adopted in Dingwall meant Tesco’s would pay less as a percentage than a small card shop. BID manager George Murray though maintained that too many small businesses would face crippling levies due to a high rateable value if there was a flat two per cent levy applied.
David Ross, who has a property in Nairn and is against BIDs said: “Do you think it fair that you charge someone with a property with a rateable value of £2000 12.5 per cent while Tesco’s with a £2 million rateable value but effectively charged 0.22 per cent when this is against national guidance suggesting a charge of two per cent?”
Some voiced frustration that the Dingwall BID team had not made clear what would actually be delivered and whether that would prove value for money.
One said: “You are telling us all these great things have happened but you have not given us anything concrete to move on two years on.”
Mr Deas said: “We can argue about events being put on and what have you but now it is down to a numbers game. We as a business community will have to find out how many no votes we would need to defeat this motion if that is what the business community decides.
“You can argue against BID or you can argue for BID - the decision is yours to make." He said: "Bear in mind that we need 140-plus no votes to defeat this and they need 140-plus votes to win. This is only the start of the process. You have got to go home and think about it and go I am going to speak to the people that I know that are in business that will be affected."
Dngwall BID has won support from several local businesses and local politicians including Cllr Graham Mackenzie and MSP Kate Forbes.
A vote on Dingwall BID is expected at the end of November.
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