Results
We held a ballot on a proposal to develop the Brentwood Connected Business Improvement District (BID). We conducted the ballot by post, and the deadline to return votes was Thursday 29 June 2023 at 5pm.
Businesses in Brentwood, Shenfield and Ingatestone have voted in favour of the BID.
The total turnout by eligible ratepayer for the election was 35%.
The votes cast in favour were 140 (80%) and the total value of the hereditaments for the votes cast in favour was £ 9,273,250 (87%).
View the full ballot result (PDF).
Background
We have received a proposal from the Brentwood Business Partnership to develop a Business Improvement District (BID) for Brentwood, Shenfield and Ingatestone.
A Business Improvement District is a business-led and business-funded scheme to deliver projects for the area that are chosen by businesses. The proposal has been put together by the Brentwood Business Partnership in consultation with the local business community. For maps of the proposed Brentwood Connected BID Area, a downloadable version of the full BID business plan and general information about what such a BID would do for businesses, visit Brentwood Business Partnership.
All organisations with non-domestic hereditaments (rateable business units) with a value above £12,500 in the defined area can vote in the BID ballot. If the outcome is yes, all organisations in the BID area must pay the BID levy, set at 2% of a premises’ rateable value per year. This is used to pay for the business-led improvement initiatives envisaged by the Brentwood Business Partnership. As with any democratic decision, this is binding, regardless of how the organisation has voted.
The council will hold the money in a ring-fenced BID Revenue Account to spend on projects and services solely in the BID area, as advised by the Brentwood Business Partnership. These projects and services are over and above any services provided by the council.
The proposal sets the term of the BID at five years, at which point a new ballot is required if the BID is to continue.
Empty properties, excluding listed buildings, will be liable for the BID levy through the property owner. Where a business ratepayer receives charitable relief from business rates, the BID will also give them an 80% relief from the BID levy. Hereditaments located within The Baytree Centre already pay additional service charges and so will pay 75% of the levy amount that would otherwise apply. The BID levy rules in the proposal cannot be altered during the lifetime of the BID without a full alteration ballot.
Notice of BID ballot letters and BID business plans were posted to relevant businesses on 15 May 2023. Postal BID ballots and return envelopes were posted to relevant businesses on 26 May 2023. Postal ballot papers must be returned to Brentwood Borough Council by 29 June 2023 at 5pm. Each hereditament will receive a vote at the value of one, but in addition, its rateable value will also form part of the vote, so there is in effect a two-part result. For the BID to go ahead, it must secure both a majority of absolute votes and rateable value votes. A No result in either of these means that the BID will not go ahead.