Barrow BID statement with regards Christmas light switch on 2016

BARROW IN FURNESS, U.K. - Oct. 14, 2016 - PRLog -- Statement from the Barrow BID Board

Following on from the recent media/social media reports, the Barrow  BID Board feels it needs to respond to the unfortunate situation regarding the Barrow Christmas Lights switch-on event.

This event has historically been operated by The Bay in conjunction with Barrow Borough Council.  However, with the stringent budget cuts that the Council is faced with, and thus having advised The Bay that they would not be able to fund this year's event, The Bay approached Barrow BID with a request to fully fund the event.

Due to time constraints, a decision needed to be made quickly as to whether the BID could justify spending £11K, 50% of it's first year budget for events, on an event that lasts 2-3 hours, without first being able to evaluate the benefit to the BID levy payers.

It is important to stress that the BID Board's responsibility is to its levy paying members and not the public of Barrow.  The Board was democratically elected by the levy paying members and, with all of the available information presented, the Board took a democratic vote.  The majority voted not to fund the event as there was insufficient time to explore and put a value on the event and thus felt that it could be seen as an incorrect use of funds if we spent such a large amount of the budget without fully understanding the benefits to the levy payers that it represents.

It should also be pointed out that the BID does not actually have any money in its account yet as the first levy bills are being sent out on 1 November. And as a new organisation that is still in the stages of developing its strategy for years one through to five, as such, it is important to ensure that whatever is spent, fits in to the original business plan and the short-, mid- and long-term strategies.

Barrow BID fully understands the disappointment of those that attend this event each year.  However, with regard to 2017, they have already pulled together an events working group to look at how it can put on a Christmas event that doesn't utilise such a significant proportion of the BID's budget, that will be much more inclusive of the town as a whole, has a longer period of benefit and that provides added value to all stakeholders in the town.

To find out more about Barrow BID please visit http://www.barrowbid.co.uk