Deadline looms for business vote (From Surrey Comet)

Deadline looms for Wimbledon business vote

12:02pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Wimbledon

Time is running out for Wimbledon's business community to back the Business Improvement District (BID) plan.

Cafes, shops and restaurants are voting on the creation of a BID in the town - with the deadline for ballots 5pm tomorrow, February 9.

If the vote is passed, every business in the affected area would pay an annual levy to fund a new bid organisation - which would promote the area, lobby on behalf of traders and supply them with up-to-date information.

The bid would exist from next month until March 2017, and cover the centre of Wimbledon including stretches of the Broadway, Hartfield Road, Worple Road and Wimbledon Hill Road.

A spokesman for the bid initiative said most businesses would pay between £200 and £1,000 a year if the vote was successful, depending on their size, and the scheme could raise almost £500,000 a year.