MEMBERS of the board of the Bute business improvement district, or BID, are beginning the task of winding down the organisation after levy-payers rejected a second five-year term.
A sense of regret pervades the air as it becomes clear what will be lost with the end of the BID, including the key tourism gateway, Visit Bute.
On the street and social media this week, a growing note is connecting with the caution raised by the business advisor Phil Prentice, who said in The Isle of Bute News in reference to the BID: You’ll miss it when it’s gone.
One prominent resident has written to the Editor paraphrasing the BBC trailer What has the BBC ever done for me?
Donald Kinnear writes: What has Bute BID ever done for me? I know Bute BID was responsible for the Christmas lights and much of the planting of flowers in the Victoria Street gardens. I know Bute BID was responsible for the new and much-used children’s play park near the pier and also for the games marked out on the prom near Kiddies Corner.
I know Bute BID was responsible for the VisitBute website and for the Meeters and Greeters who cheerily handed out maps and information to cruise boat passengers arriving at the pontoons in the harbour. I know Bute BID was responsible for acquiring and putting out the tables and chairs in Guilford Square and the Montague Street garden which are so popular with locals and visitors in summer – but what has Bute BID ever done for me?
Argyll and Bute Council confirmed this week it will continue to deliver all regeneration projects on the island currently funded and will also continue to offer support to local businesses through Business Gateway on an individual basis.
A spokesman for the council would not be drawn on how much of an impact the loss of the BID will have, although this newspaper last week reported the economic cost to the island could be up to £8 million over the coming five years.
The local authority noted it will be up to other organisations to take over any aspects of the BID activity, such as marketing of the island, should they choose to do so.
The chair of the outgoing Bute board, Duncan Martin, said they are now working within a cooling-off period.
In effect, that means they are preparing the statutory requirements of winding down a company and disposing of its assets.
They belong to the levy payers, he said, so we need to have conversations about how to hand over ownership of things like Christmas lights, equipment, tables and chairs.
Mr Martin said he is very concerned about the way forward for the island in the absence of the BID.
There’s not very much we can do now, the levy payers have decided to stop us, but I’ve spoken with many of them over the past week and they don’t understand what’s happened, why it went against us.
By statute, the Bute BID now has two weeks to complete its closure procedures. There is legislation that would enable a group of businesses to form a new organisation, but so far, such a grouping has not emerged.
