Rye & District Chamber of Commerce has made a successful bid for a share of £185,000 of levelling up funding, as confirmed by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The money will be divided between Rye, Bexhill and Battle Chambers of Commerce according to their spending priorities as approved by DLUHC.
Rye Chamber chair, Jane Brook said: “We are delighted that DLUHC has recognised the need for funding to be distributed beyond local councils so that grassroots spending decisions can be made within communities. We met with DLUHC last November to discuss the priorities for Rye, and we subsequently submitted an outline plan for the deployment of this money in our town. Our business community is passionate about the changes that the town needs to make to thrive, and we have an ambitious strategy for ensuring that these plans can become a reality. To that end DLUHC is supporting plans for us to undertake a feasibility study for achieving business improvement district status for Rye which will be an important step in deciding the town’s future. Funding has also been approved for improvements to the public realm. We are very optimistic about what the next twelve months will hold for Rye.”
MP for Rye, Sally-Ann Hart added: “I was keen that Rye, Camber and the surrounding villages in our side of Rother district were not overlooked for the Rother Levelling-Up Partnership, and I am delighted that we have successful projects selected. I welcome the Department of Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities recognition of the valuable contribution that chambers of commerce make to their communities. This is an opportunity for the Rye and District Chamber of Commerce to explore the possibility of Rye achieving business improvement district status. If such status were to be achieved this would enable projects and services to be developed for the benefit of local businesses.”
The funding comes from the total £20million investment to the Rother Levelling Up Partnership and is for the financial year commencing April 2024.
Image Credits: Rye Chamber of Commerce .
Well done Rye Chamber of commerce. I would be interested how the money is divided between the three places. Evenly? And how much will be the feasibility study, always worries me a bit as often there isn’t enough money left to actually put result into action.
But hoping to be wrong
Hi Heidi
You can read all about it in our March newsletter – hot off the press!
https://www.ryechamber.org/post/march-newsletter-2024
It’s great to see such a dynamic duo leading Rye Chamber of Commerce. The impact of your efforts is clear to all. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Thank you Cheryl! Much appreciated.
What exactly is the public realm?
Exactly Tony, just that mean dropping kerbs in the high street,so access is better for the disabled, or even pedestrianising from Adams to lion Street. But of course sensible options,never happen.
Would it be possible for some of the money to be used for ‘levelling up’ the roads?
Jane, your newsletter reveals that £60,000 has been awarded for a Business Improvement District (BID) feasibility study and campaign and £25,000 for improvement to Rye’s public realm. While I support the public realm investment, I believe that expenditure of £60k on a BID feasibility represents a complete waste of money. Who will receive the funding? A consultancy. Essentially, a BID is “a defined area in which a levy is charged on all eligible business rate payers in addition to the business rates bill” (gov.uk definition). This levy is then used on projects to improve local business, such as street cleansing, security and environmental improvements. All that is required is a circular letter to Rye businesses explaining how much the BID levy will be, what the money will be used for and asking businesses whether they will support the initiative. The Chamber could easily draft this circular, print it and deliver it to every one of Rye’s business rate-paying businesses for far less than £1,000, saving yourselves £59,000. It’s then just a question of summarising the replies. I will do it for you, if you wish. There is absolutely no reason to involve an expensive consultancy. The feasibility money you save could be used to finance several vital projects in Rye. You only require money for a BID ‘campaign’, presumably, because you anticipate that a number of businesses will oppose paying the extra levy. Your strategy needs a rethink, in my opinion.
I stand to be corrected, but it may be that those are the terms of the award, rather than Sarah and Jane’s strategies. They’ve done brilliantly to get to this stage.
Yes, thanks for that acknowledgement Guy.
We appreciate your comments, here’s the full context:
As we move through the levelling-up partnership process we will continue to be completely transparent as we have been since the outset. The governance is strict as you would expect.
We were approached by DLUHC to submit ideas for projects that would benefit the town’s businesses: encouraging trade and enhancing the visitor experience. Our ideas needed to fall under the strict terms of the levelling-up partnerships fund.
They were very clear:
– We could NOT apply for funding for anything that is the statutory responsibility of the council (town, district or county). For the avoidance of doubt that means that things like money for pothole repairs wasn’t an option.
– We couldn’t apply for funding to pay staff / salaries.
– We couldn’t apply for funding for a project that couldn’t be self-sustaining without further support.
We duly submitted a ‘shopping list’ of ideas. It was valued at over £2.1m and covered a wide range of projects. We were given just 4 days to do this.
DLUHC considered the list and made the decision on what they would fund and would not fund. They specifically agreed to fund a project to establish a BID for the town valued at £60K in total. To be clear, the feasibility study is just the first step. A three-phased approach to BID creation/renewal takes place from concept and feasibility, testing through to plan development, campaign and formal creation, implementation, and management.
Furthermore, we have selected to work with the only consultancy in the UK to have developed Destination and Tourism BIDs. It includes having to work with a range of sectors such as Retail,Food and Drink, Attractions, Accommodation as well as in different environments e.g. Coast, Country, Urban and Rural Areas and Natural Habitats.They are the industry leaders in the UK in the number and type of BIDs developed, with a 100% success record and the unrivalled experience that provides.
So you see, the value in engaging expert consultants extends beyond sending a questionnaire.
The capital pot of funding for improvements to the public realm was valued at £25K (inclusive of VAT.) This must be spent on improving the physical environment of the town, and it will not go far!
These sums have been awarded to us in a grant agreement. They are non-negotiable. We do not have the option of doing a BID campaign ourselves and spending the money elsewhere. If we refuse the £60K for the BID campaign it will simply be taken back by DLUHC.
BID campaigns need to be run with all due diligence observed and ideally by an independent body with experience of the process. Please don’t forget that the Rye Chamber consists of a small handful of officers who give their time free of charge. The benefit of securing a BID will, we believe, be enormous, not only will it help Rye fund projects in the town that it is currently unable to, it will also mean the town has a pot of funding on which to leverage further grant funding for a wider range of projects, and this is a key point.
The Chamber will very soon be asking its members to vote on the specific spending choices for the £25K capital pot of public realm improvements and the results of this vote will be shared publicly in due course.
Any business keen to get involved can enquire about Chamber membership on our website http://www.ryechamber.org.
Further reading: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/business-improvement-districts
Fabulous work by Sarah and Jane! I’m struggling to imagine in what circumstances Rye wouldn’t want to be a Business Improvement District (although I don’t know what that means).