The advertisement by the BID 'No' Campaign in the Penarth Times last week is misleading or inaccurate in many ways. For clarity we wish to point out:

1. The average independent business will pay less than £250pa, ie less than £5 per week (much of which will be repaid via the collective purchasing schemes envisaged)

2. Turnout for BID ballots is usually around 40% - similar to local elections. Everyone voting in the ballot is also eligible to sit on the BID Board that will control the BID - it is highly transparent, accountable and representative approach to support town centres which is why 95% of BIDs are supported again and again in five yearly re-ballots. Quite simply, businesses know they work.

3. Administrative costs for the Penarth BID that are fixed are projected at less than 5% (ie £4,000 for levy collection). Any further investment in administration or project management will entirely be at the choice of the BID Board.

The advertisement also refers to the Swansea BID 'disaster', however Swansea businesses voted YES in two ballots - the most recent in 2011 won with nearly twice as many businesses voting in favour (63%).

On one point we do agree with the NO camp - that most traders do not have time to commit to these sorts of activities. However these same traders are in my experience very willing to contribute a modest sum (average £5 per week) to ensure someone is acting on their behalf to take care of the critical elements of a successful town such as parking, marketing and an intelligent response to the massive growing threat of the internet which slowly but surely is killing traditional high streets and town centres.

Finally the NO camp have mooted the resurrection of the Chamber which we all know sadly failed miserably when last tried - as it had zero funding. A BID is largely a Chamber with £425,000 attached to it to get things done. We hope you agree that its time for Penarth to try a new approach which has been proven in thousands of locations all over the world and say YES for the BID.

Gary Soltys

BID Deputy Chair

(Eligible to Vote via two businesses)