To hear from the three business improvement districts operating within the BCP Council area. To consider issues raised by the BIDs and how these might be used to bring insight to any future scrutiny.
Representatives of all three BIDS have been invited to attend. The BIDs currently operating are:
· Bournemouth Coastal BID
· Bournemouth Town Centre BID
· Poole BID
There is also a Christchurch BID steering group which is looking to establish a Christchurch BID.
Minutes:
The Chairman gave a brief introduction on the function of BIDs and advised that BCP Council was fortunate enough to have three operating within the borough and hopefully a fourth would be established in the near future. The Chairman welcomed the representatives from each of the BIDs and from the Christchurch BID steering group to the meeting and asked if they could each give a brief update on current issues.
Bournemouth Town Centre BID – The Chair and Manager of the BID attended the meeting and updated the Board on the three main themes for the BID going forward for the next year arising from the AGM in November. The issues raised were rough sleeping, anti-social behaviour and aggressive begging; reform of business rates and the general problems facing the high street. A number of issues were raised in the ensuing discussion including:
· Business rates were a national issue but it was important to analyse these areas to see which could fall within some degree of local control. In the Town Centre approximately 80% of the retail offering were national chains which made it susceptible to decisions taken at a national level.
· The BID Chairman commented that he was pleased to see work on the Town Centre Vision being taken forward. There was an issue of oversupply of retail space in Bournemouth. Town Centres would not be able to remain the same as they were now, but consideration need to be given to how change could be influenced.
· Parking was also noted as an issue – in particular short-term parking for an hour.
· The BID confirmed that instances of begging and rough sleeping had increased significantly in the town centre over the past year.
· The BID confirmed that footfall in the town centre in 2019 was down on 2019 but up on 2017.
· Clear planning policy for the town centre was vital moving forward and there appeared to be a slowing of planning application decisions. Clarity was needed from Planners when changes were requested to planning applications. Further residential development in the town centre was needed and would help increase footfall.
· Concerns were expressed about aggressive begging which appeared to be on the increase. It was noted that this was a police issue. There was concern that the police presence in the town centre had decreased but others felt that this hadn’t been an issue and questioned what other factors had impacted the increase in begging and rough sleeping. A Councillor noted that CSAS officer presence seemed to have decreased and that the Council had not been effective in this area.
· In response to the issues raised about parking a Councillor suggested that the car parking rates should be harmonised across the BCP area.
· A Councillor questioned the service provision for rough sleeping, and it was commented that something wasn’t working in this regard.
· In response to some of the issues raised a Councillor advised that homelessness had decreased by 26 percent from November 2019 to January 2020. The Chief Executive confirmed that there had not been a change in the Council’s policy on this over the last year.
Poole Town Centre BID – The business manager and a representative from the BID board outlined the major issues for the BID in Poole. The issues on the high street in general were manifest in Poole. The high street had suffered from underinvestment over many years. The last time there was any substantial investment was in 1983. Unrealistic rents were also a significant factor, with landlords willing to let properties sit empty and no incentives for them to let them out. Unfortunately, this was another issue that the BID had very little influence over. Issues concerning rough sleeping and begging were increasingly becoming an issue in Poole. It was noted that the impact of austerity had made this an issue up and down the country. The bus station and antisocial behaviour that took place in that area was also a significant issue. It was felt that the vision and plan for the town centre needed to get back on track. A number of issues were raised in the subsequent discussion including:
· The national picture of the underfunding of services was a significant issue and the impact had been felt in many areas.
· It was noted that the previous potential cinema development was outside the Council’s control.
· It was noted that the CCTV control centre would report incidents to the police, but they were unable to react. There was concern that funding was significantly affecting rural police forces such as Dorset.
· The BID was asked if it would be good to bring in more local retailers to the town centre. The BID manager reflected that independents wouldn’t want to come onto the high street in its current state and they would face significant barriers.
· Petty theft from shops was an issue and a lot of this type of crime went unreported.
· It was suggested that the Council could help with closing some of the cut throughs around the bus station which would help improve security in the area. However, a Councillor commented that the bus station was owned by three different organisation and only the canopy was owned by BCP.
· A Councillor suggested that the O&S Board should work more closely with the BIDs on issues affecting the towns in future.
Bournemouth Coastal BID – The Chairman of the BID explained the slightly different focus of the Coastal BID which covered several different areas across Bournemouth including; Southbourne, Boscombe and Westbourne. The Board was advised that support was needed from the Council and there also need to be greater awareness of the work the BID did. Twenty percent of BID members were hotels with slightly different issues to the two Town Centre BIDs. Occupancy across hotels had remained broadly flat over the last three years but there were issues with guest experiences, particularly with aggressive begging in Bournemouth. There were also issues with drugs being brought into hotels and there was concern that policing was not addressing this issue. It was noted that there was a partnership in place with Community Safety Accredited Scheme Officers in Boscombe and the incidences of Anti-Social Behaviour there had improved. Other areas of concern raised including lighting issues at the seafront and issues concerning planning concerning planning consents. Further issues were raised by the Board including:
· That there needed to be better resourcing for police dealing with anti-social behaviour, with better targeted enforcement. It was noted that the Council and BID were happy to support partnership working in this area. However, the CSAS officers could not leave their ‘zone’ in Boscombe. The BID was looking at similar options for the East Cliff.
· The Coastal BID had supported Westbourne and Southbourne villages and even though these areas were not immune to the issues outlined for the town centres both areas were currently doing well.
Christchurch BID Steering Group – The O&S Board also welcomed a consultant working with the Steering group which was representative of a cross section of business throughout Christchurch. A draft business plan was being produced in approximately April in order to lead into the BID going to ballot in August following consultation with town centre businesses.
The Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Culture responded to a number of issues raised in the preceding discussion including the plans for Poole Town Centre regeneration. The Chairman thanked all parties for attending.