Bangor BID back on track
By Julie Waters
THERE is fresh ‘optimism’ that plans for Bangor’s ‘desperately needed’ Business Improvement District are back on track after two rival business groups buried the hatchet.
A steering group of local businesses and Bangor Chamber of Commerce have pledged to work together to seek the Business Improvement District (BID) after spending much of last year at loggerheads.
Last March the steering group announced it wanted to set up a BID in the city centre – but failed to include anyone from the Chamber on the steering group.
After months of tension, the Chamber announced towards the end of the year that it was also planning its own BID proposal, which prompted Ards and North Down Council to step in and urge the bodies to ‘work out their differences.’
Now it has emerged that the two groups have agreed to work together on a single bid.
According to a council report due to be discussed at the council’s Place and Prosperity committee tonight, officials have now recommended the council provide £40,000 funding for the BID following the resolution between the two groups.
This funding, if approved by councillors, will be considered during the 2025/26 rate setting process and will be match funded by the Department for Communities.
The report goes on to say that ‘the financial support will be crucial in enabling the BID proposal to adequately progress to the ballot stage’.
A separate plan to create a BID in Newtownards is at an early stage of development and officials are supporting the Chamber of Commerce with the proposal.
The aim of a BID is to create a defined area in which businesses get together to form a company that invests in projects to boost footfall and revenue across the business community.
Hailed as a regeneration tool that provides multi-million pound investment, areas that already boast successful BIDs across Northern Ireland include Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter, Ballymena, Newry and Strabane.
Alison Gordon, development director at the Open House Festival and a member of the BID steering group, welcomed ‘this important step’ in moving the Bangor BID forward.
“It is very exciting, we are very hopeful that this is going to be the year for the BID. I think the traders in central Bangor need a boost and there is a lot of optimism about the BID.”
Ms Gordon said the BID steering group had been opened to new applications and a stakeholder group would be set up including representatives from the council, the Chamber of Commerce and other community partners.
Said Ms Gordon: “The BID is a great way to get local traders to work together and try and get some positive momentum in the city centre which we desperately need.”
Frank Shivers, Bangor Chamber of Commerce president, said the BID is of great importance to develop Bangor for the business community and said he was delighted that the bodies can move forward in partnership.
Said Mr Shivers: “This is the first step, we now need the funding from the department and the council.”