Millions gained for Ipswich Town Centre (Ipswich Liberal Democrats)

Ipswich Liberal Democrats <info@ipswichlibdems.org.uk>

Millions gained for Ipswich Town Centre

July 25, 2006 11:00 PM

"Fantastic news for Ipswich" - says LibDem Richard Atkins

A clear majority of town centre businesses have voted to form a "Business Improvement District" or "BID" in Ipswich, the 30th such scheme in the country. This means that town centre businesses have opted to pay a levy of 1.2% of their business rates into a fund which will be used to improve the town centre.

Paul Clement, director of the company which was set up to promote the Ipswich BID, said "This is a great result for Ipswich town centre. It shows that businesses of all sizes and across all sectors have been persuaded by our ideas, all aimed at making Ipswich better for business, better for customers, and better for staff."

Richard Atkins, the Lib Dem portfolio holder for Planning and Economic Development at the Borough Council, commented "This is fantastic news which will enable Ipswich develop further and to compete more effectively with other regional centres."

Thanks to Richard's ongoing support, the Borough Council was the main source of the funding to devise and promote the BID. "What a superb investment for the people of Ipswich" Richard said. "We put in around £70,000 and the BID will raise £3.2 million for the town centre. And it's particularly nice to be ahead of Norwich, as well as Colchester, with Ipswich getting the first "BID" in the 4 counties of Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire."