Lowestoft seeks Business Improvement District status

Lowestoft's Business Improvement District would be north of the inner harbour

Business leaders in Lowestoft have told firms £1m will be available for town centre development if they vote for a rise in taxes.

The Lowestoft Vision team wants to create a Business Improvement District (BID) which would see companies pay at extra 1.5% in business rates.

In other towns, BID money has been spent on town centre management and improvements to public areas.

A ballot of 350 businesses in Lowestoft closes on 22 May.

Emma King, BID development manager for Lowestoft Vision, said: "This money will be ring-fenced into a pot for the businesses to do what they want and what they see as fit to take Lowestoft forward.

"It's a huge opportunity and we need everybody to vote yes."

'Hard to sell'

Daniel Poitras, manager of the Britten Shopping Centre, said: "Lowestoft has done very well as a town centre with very few empty shops, but it is getting harder.

Shops, companies and leisure venues are among the 350 firms getting a vote

"We need something to make it brighter and more inviting, such as put hanging baskets back up."

Ipswich established its BID zone, called Ipswich Central, in 2007 and it now raises £750,000 a year from the extra levy.

Paul Clement, executive director of Ipswich Central, said: "It's hard to sell at first because businesses are buying in to an expectation, but councils are less able to spend money on town centre management and the gap's got to be filled.

"After five years, 93% of Ipswich businesses voted in favour of keeping the BID and wanted us to scale-up our level of activity.

"The public would notice if BIDs were switched off as there would be less cleaning, safety, marketing and public realm improvement."

Only firms with a rateable value of over £8,000 would be liable to pay the extra levy if Lowestoft voted for BID status.

Lowestoft's BID development team said it would be able to raise £1.14m spread evenly over the first five years.