Windermere and Bowness firms to vote on new 'tax' plan (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Windermere and Bowness firms to vote on new 'tax' plan

1:04pm Tuesday 3rd January 2012 in Business By Helen Perkins, Reporter

BUSINESSES in two South Lakeland towns are to be balloted this month on whether they are prepared to be ‘taxed’ to fund improvement projects.

The go ahead for the opinion gathering exercise has been given by Government and will be conducted by Windermere and Bowness Chamber of Trade (WBCT).

Some 800 businesses in the LA23 postcode area will receive a letter asking whether they are prepared to stump up the extra cash.

The ballot will close on January 31 and the result announced the following day.

If more than 50 per cent of respondents vote yes, the added taxes are expected to be collected from June next year.

The one per cent levy on each firm’s rateable value would then be collected by South Lakeland District Council each year, for five years.

Bowness and Windermere would then become a Business Improvement District (BID) – with the £153,000 raised annually used to fund projects agreed on by bosses of businesses paying the levy.

WBCT secretary Adrian Faulkner said consultation on the idea had received a mixed reaction from firms.

“Some are strongly for it and some are dead against,” he said. “Whether business owners want the levy or not we really want them to vote, so they can be a part of the decision.

“If the idea gets support it will mean £765,000 for the area over five years.

“There would be the opportunity to get match funding, if we used the money for projects supported by other organisations. That could potentially double our money and give local traders more scope to make the area a better place for tourists and shoppers.”

Cumbria Tourism, Hawkshead Relish and the Lakes Hospitality Association are among the organisations said to be backing the charges.

For more information on the proposed BID charges, visit www.wbcoft.org.uk.