“Could the Leader please elaborate on the Executive Board’s decision to support the BID (Business Improvement District) in Carmarthen and Llanelli for a second term, and how will that benefit the two town centres?”
Minutes:
“Could the Leader please elaborate on the Executive Board’s decision to support the BID (Business Improvement District) in Carmarthen and Llanelli for a second term, and how will that benefit the two town centres?”
Response by Councillor Emlyn Dole, Leader of the Council:-
“Thank you for the question and I’m very pleased to answer it and to say how much I appreciate the work in the BID in Llanelli and before I start on Llanelli I would like to thank Mandy who is working for the BID for her work and the Chairperson Lesley Richards for her commitment as well. Starting in 2015 for an initial period of 5 years the improvement district for Llanelli has worked very closely with partners and stakeholders to improve Llanelli as a place to live, as a place to visit and the BID team has been essential in setting up an excellent calendar of events in the town centre as well. The events, including an 80’s festival, a food and drink festival, an outdoor cinema etc have grown from year to year and the number of visitors has increased during those events for the the benefit of local businesses in Llanelli town. On average the number of visitors that were noted on a Saturday during 6 weeks in Llanelli was 16,800 but during events held by the BID those figures show and reflect the positive impact that these events have had that were organised by the BID. If we think back to the Batman Returns event I think there were about 25,000 visitors in the town, the 80’s Festival there were over 28,000 visitors and another festival attracted 22,000. The dinosaurs, when they came, over 25,000 visitors then and the Great Get Together attracted almost 30,000 people to the town centre. Alongside those events of course the BID in Llanelli has invested in town centre initiatives such as a planning scheme, setting up a digital signs, and increasing the police presence in the town as well. The covid restrictions allowed the BID to show support for businesses by buying personal protective equipment for them and giving them reopening packs which included perspex screens, hand sanitizers, floor stickers and masks as well and these were all available free for businesses who pay the BID. The BID has also asked for free advertising on the digital screen which is a key gateway to Llanelli and hospitality businesses have been using their outside areas by using furniture that is organised via the BID. Rejuvenating the BID for Llanelli for 5 years and continuing with events which are of benefit to the businesses are completely essential for the economic recovery of the town centre because the pandemic has had an impact of course. Tha aims and objectives of the BID go alongside the task force with Llanelli town centre and the BID will, of course, help the resilience and recovery of the town centre following the pandemic. The vote will be held on Thursday 4th March and during that second term hopefully the BID in Llanelli will promise to market and improve access to the town and developing a strategy as well. Without a BID like that in Llanelli leading on a specific programme of events and initiatives to achieve these businesses may not attract many visitors.
In relation to the BID in Carmarthen this was approved for an initial term of 5 years back in March 2020 and the BID team has promised to make businesses more profitable, to improve the profile of the town in general, improve the parking experience and also improve the visual aims of the town. They will be supporting the town centre economy by increasing the number of people visiting the town centre and also the spend in the town, therefore making the town more vibrant and making sure that happens.
The performance of the [Llanelli] BID against its promises is monitored continuously via the governance measure that was put in place at the beginning of the BID as it will do in Carmarthen.”