Canterbury Bid

Voting Guide

Canterbury BID was established by ballot in 2014 as an independent, business-led, not-for-profit initiative to ensure investment in the city centre based on the priorities of the business community. All of the money raised by the BID – from the levy, voluntary contributions, sponsorship and commercial income – is invested directly back into Canterbury. In the first BID term (2014-2019), your BID raised 20% on top of the levy, totalling £430,000 over the five years, bringing the total amount invested to over £2.9m. The BID’s mission is to help make Canterbury a vibrant, exciting, well connected and successful business community.

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are business-led partnerships that agree by ballot to pay an extra levy based on their rateable value to fund activities, services and improvements that will benefit the businesses and the place in which they operate. Nationally, there are 300 BIDs in the UK, investing over £130m every year, giving business an independent voice and investing in business-led initiatives.

Under Government legislation we are now approaching the end of the first five-year term, and therefore to continue beyond September 2019 we need to run a ballot from 13 June to 11 July 2019.

Here is an overview of the ballot process:

Notice of Ballot – 30 May

This is an official notice from Canterbury City Council (CCC), who, by legislation, have to run the BID ballot. The notice will be sent to all eligible voters, advanced notice of the upcoming ballot.

Ballot Starts – 13 June

The BID Ballot commences on Thursday 13 June so expect to receive your ballot papers from Canterbury City Council in the post around this time. If your business has an internal mail system, it might be worth giving your postal staff advance warning to look out for the ballot papers.

Ballot Papers

To cast your vote, simply put a X in your chosen box before printing your name, signing and stating your position within the business. Landlords and occupiers with more than one business will receive one vote per eligible property.

Returning of Ballot Papers

Post the ballot papers via Royal Mail using the pre-paid envelope provided. If you have more than one vote, you may include all of your papers within the same pre-paid envelope, but you must indicate the ballot reference number for each ballot paper on the outside of the envelope.

Lost Ballot Papers
If a ballot paper has not been received by 5pm on Friday 5 July, you may apply to Canterbury City Council for a replacement paper in writing as follows:
a)   A letter in hard copy form along with the appropriate ‘evidence of identity’ sent to Canterbury City Council Electoral Services, Military Road, Canterbury CT1 1YW
b)   A scan of both the letter and the ‘evidence of identity’ attached to an email and sent to Canterbury City Council Electoral Services electoral.services@canterbury.gov.uk , and Lynda.mcdaid@canterbury.gov.uk
c)   A fax copy of both the letter and the ‘evidence of identity’ , sent by fax to 01227 862 269

The letter should be addressed to Canterbury City Council. The letter must be signed by the Eligible Voter and evidence of the voter’s identity must be provided in the form of one of the following:
a)   Signed Letterhead for the appropriate company.
b)   A signed photocopy of the National Non-Domestic Rating Bill for the hereditament.
c)   A signed photocopy of an item of personal ID such as a Passport or Driving Licence.

Ballot Deadline and Result

The Ballot closes at 5pm on Thursday 11 July, any ballot papers received after this time will not be counted. The ballot result is expected to be announced on Friday 12 July.

Key Dates

  • Ballot Papers delivered – Thursday 13 June 2019
  • Ballot Starts – Thursday 13 June 2019
  • Ballot ends – Thursday 11 July 2019 at 5pm
  • Result announced – Friday 12th July 2019