STRONG opposition towards plans to introduce extra charges for businesses in Trowbridge has resulted in the entire project being put on hold by Wiltshire Council this week.

The Business Improvement District (BID) would have seen a levy imposed on businesses based on their rateable value with the money generated to be put towards improvements around the town centre such as additional street cleaning.

In the last few weeks, Vote NO posters have appeared in shop windows after the BID Awareness Group openly came out as saying they fully oppose the plans which have been facilitated by marketing company Mosaic. They have been paid £35,000 so far for their work, which includes selling the idea to traders.

Businesses’ concerns came across loud and clear to Cllr de Rhé-Philipe, cabinet member for Economic Development, who called the internal meeting at County Hall last Friday.

“I wanted to get the three BIDs – Trowbridge, Chippenham and Salisbury – together so that we can learn from the successes and failures and see what is happening with them,” she said.

She said: “I wanted to talk about the controversy that has surrounded the Trowbridge BID as It seems that there has been a lot of people who are not happy and I thought the best thing was to put it on hold over the summer and come back to the drawing board in the autumn. I think what we need to do is think about what is the best way to communicate to all, where we should be going with the BID plans and ultimately whether the BID is the best thing for Trowbridge.”

“BIDs are something that the council support but it has to be something that is mutually agreed by everyone.”

Each business which pays business rates in the proposed boundary, including charity shops, will be entitled to a vote in the ballot.

This week, Tracy Parker, who owns Leykers Coffee Central, said when plans are discussed again, she would like to remain as chairman of the task group to make sure she continues to stick up for independent businesses.

Fellow business owner Paul Silk has also spoken out this week and has stuck up for Scholars owner Edward Kirk who has helped make businesses aware of the BID.

“It was solely by his efforts of organised meetings that many local businesses learnt and understood what a BID was,” the Silk Money owner said. “As our Vote NO campaign continues, we have currently over 130 businesses supporting our views as well as lots of local support from our own customers and members of the public which is increasing weekly as our campaign gathers more momentum.”