Drew to pioneer Peebles BID

David O'Leary • Published 29 Oct 2010 09:30 0 Comments

PEEBLES Rugby Club’s captain has been tasked with driving forward a first of its kind project in the Borders.

Drew Moore has been appointed to the role of BID Development Officer by Positively Peebles with the task of forming the first Business Improvement District in the region.

As announced in the Peeblesshire News, Positively Peebles was awarded £20,000 of Scottish Government funding towards the project in March this year and was granted a further £20,000 in support of their proposals through LEADER funding in September.

A BID (Business Improvement District) is a public-private partnership in which businesses elect to pay an additional tax in order to fund improvements to the town’s public and trading environment.

Businesses pay a common maintenance fee for services that enhance the appearance of the town’s common areas and provide cooperative advertising for the town and its various services.

However, before agreeing to fund the additional investment, businesses themselves decide how their money will be spent and how much they are prepared to pay.

Each business liable to contribute to the BID will then be able to vote on whether or not that BID goes ahead.

Various towns throughout Scotland such as Inverness, Dunfermline, Alloa and Falkirk have been boosted by a BID.

Drew Moore will be better known to many as the current captain of Peebles Rugby Club and also as a former West Linton Whipman.

His initial job will involve meeting as many local businesses as possible, to gauge opinion on the real issues affecting local traders.

A business plan will then be drafted and widely discussed before being finalised. This will detail all of the information needed for a business to decide whether to support the proposals put forward in a ballot in June 2011.

It is expected that a successful ballot of businesses will lead to the formation of a BID in Peebles.

Drew said: “We are all aware that we are living in difficult times and following the recent public spending cuts, traders in the town may be finding things tight for the foreseeable future. It’s difficult but we need a positive solution to improve things. We can make more of an impact as a collective unit than trying to work individually.

“This is a time to reinforce the identity of the town as a premier trading environment whilst keeping the local identity that has served the town for decades.

“We have a real opportunity to make a difference and be pioneers for other towns to follow. I see this as a great opportunity for Peebles.”

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This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 29 Oct 10

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