Proposal to form Clonmel BID company approved by overwhelming majority of council
Thirty-two councillors voted to approve the establishment of a Business Improvement District company for Clonmel at Tipperary County Council’s June meeting
An overwhelming majority of councillors voted to approve the establishment of a Business Improvement District company for Clonmel to work to improve the town's prosperity and vibrancy at their June meeting on Monday.
Thirty-two councillors voted in favour of the proposal that gives the green light to the town's BID proponents to set up the company. They will now appoint a CEO and form a board to lead the company that will seek to secure funding for initiatives to boost the town's economy.
Clonmel BID proponents group representatives were present in the council chamber at Tipperary County Council's Clonmel Civic Offices for the councillors’ vote of approval for the initiative to proceed. It was the final step in a process that began last November and included extensive public consultation and a postal ballot plebiscite of the town's 986 ratepayers that concluded on May 13. The ratepayers voted by 482 votes to 85 in favour of the proposal to set up a BID company for the town.
Independent Nenagh Cllr Seamus Morris abstained from the vote while Clonmel Independent Cllr Niall Dennehy, a strong opponent of the BID proposal, excused himself from the council meeting while the vote was taking place. He notified the Council before the meeting that he has instructed legal counsel to look into seeking a judicial review or other legal action over the approval of the Clonmel BID proposal.
In contrast, the four other Clonmel Borough District councillors present at the meeting, led by Mayor of Clonmel Cllr Pat English, enthusiastically endorsed the Clonmel BID proposal.
The Council's Finance Director Mark Connolly recommended to the Council's elected members that they approve the BID scheme proposals after recounting the steps taken in process leading up to and including the plebiscite. He was satisfied the statutory requirements set out in legislation have been completed, that the scheme was appropriate and didn't conflict with the interests of the local community.
Clonmel's Mayor Cllr English then proposed the Council honour the ratepayers' 85% vote in favour of setting up a BID company by approving the proposal. Clonmel ratepayer Fine Gael Cllr John Fitzgerald, seconded the proposal, and declared he was “really excited” to welcome members of the Clonmel BID proponents group to the council meeting including Frank Moran, Phil Kehoe, Clonmel Town Team Chairman Noel Buckley and Tipperary Chamber CEO Michelle Aylward.
He said it was a “momentous” day and pointed out Clonmel will be joining Dublin city centre, Sligo, Drogheda and Dundalk in setting up a BID.
He believed the BID company will make a huge difference to the attractiveness of Clonmel as a town and paid tribute to the hard work of the BID proponents in getting the initiative to this stage. The huge support for the proposal by the town's ratepayers was a credit to the proponents’ work and he had been happy as a ratepayer to support the proposal.
Cllr Fitzgerald said he knew the BID proponents were already looking ahead to organising events and festivals to boost the town. Clonmel Fianna Fáil Cllr Siobhán Ambrose said a BID company offered huge potential for Clonmel as it will be able to access funding the Council as a government body can’t access.
She noted the ratepayers' 85% vote in favour of the proposal was indicative of the will of the town's business people to move this initiative forward. She said it was great to see Clonmel's businesses working together and wished them well with BID.
Clonmel Fine Gael Cllr Tom Acheson echoed Cllr Fitzgerald's and Cllr Ambrose's praise of the Clonmel BID proponents’ efforts and also wished them well. “For me the most exciting thing about this is the collective energy of the business people of Clonmel,” he said.
Following the vote, Fianna Fáil whip Cllr Michael Smith proposed the sitting Mayor of Clonmel Borough District represent the Council's elected representatives on the board of Clonmel BID for the next three years. The proposal was seconded by Cllr Pat English, who will hand over this mayoral chains of office to a new incumbent at the district’s AGM later this month.
The Clonmel BID company will be funded through a levy paid by all the town's ratepayers ranging from the small shop owner, to multi-national industries and large chain stores. It’s estimated the levy will generate an annual fund of €350,000 with the potential to use that fund to leverage for grants to invest in initiatives to boost the town's economy.