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The Bedminster Business Improvement District (BID) is to be discontinued after a decade.
In a ballot, the trading community on North Street, West Street and East Street voted against continuing the BID with a narrow six per cent margin.
Set up in 2013, the BID operates on behalf of 350 local businesses and is funded via a small levy on all eligible businesses in the BS3 area which is spent on community projects.
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But the BID has attracted criticism, including from East Street traders impacted by nearby road closures and building work. And Asda Bedminster previously withdrew its support for the BID in 2018.
Bedminster BID chair Ade Williams says he is “disappointed” it won’t continue – photo: Martin Booth
Bedminster BID chair and local pharmacist, Ade Williams, says the team will now be meeting with traders to discuss next steps and if there is a way to continue to work together as a community.
“We’re very disappointed that with so much still to do for the area, the BID won’t be able to supplement the work of the council at a time when resources are so stretched,” he said.
Over the decade it has existed, the BID has created Make Sunday Special events, supported the Bedminster Winter Lantern Parade and Upfest, and improved the local street scene with murals and pocket parks.
If traders had voted to continue the BID, it would have operated for another five-year term under a new business plan.
The BID applied a levy on businesses in the BS3 area to support local events – photo: Bedminster Winter Lantern Parade
Ruth Green, BID manager, said it has been a “privilege” to support the local community of traders since joining the team in June.
“The business plan focused on the request from traders to increase cleaning in the area and improve safety, as well as supporting events such as the eat:Bedminster market and continuing the recent work to create Bristol Art District,” she said.
“As a local resident I’ve watched as Bedminster has undergone a transformation, with hundreds of new traders and shortly 6,000 new residents moving to the area as developments come to completion.
“If this is the end of the BID, then we will be leaving it in a much better position than when the BID was first create.”
Th BID has ring-fenced funds for street cleaning and Christmas lights throughout the Bedminster area and will continue to support traders until the end of its current five-year term on term on October 31.
Main photo: Charlie Watts
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