THE ballot on the Okehampton Business Improvement District is now open — a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the scheme before the vote, attracted only a handful of businesses, but the steering group is optimistic it will win through.

A BID is a partnership between a local authority and the local business community to develop projects and services that will benefit the trading environment within a set area.

Ballot papers have been issued to voters, and copies of the Okehampton BID business plan have been circulated to businesses within the proposed area.

The vote to decide whether the scheme gets the green light has now opened, and closes on Wednesday, July 24.

The team behind the Okehampton scheme held an open meeting for business owners on Tuesday evening so they could speak to the steering group ahead of casting their vote. But only three people showed up.

Tim Beavon from the DR Company, which has helped put the BID business plan together, confirmed that around '20 to 30' votes had already been cast, although they are hoping more businesses come forward to vote.

Kay Bickley, chair of the steering group, was in defiant mood. She said: 'I'd say in the BID process that more people have turned up to our BID meetings than to Okehampton Town Council meetings or the chamber of trade meetings over the years.

'This plan has created a summary of what a lot of businesses here in Okehampton want, having listened to lots of different people.

'If there is a no vote, the view of us on the steering group is that we will go back to our day jobs and say, someone must have a plan B.

'No-one can say we haven't tried to do something for this town. We truly hope it is a yes vote.'

The Okehampton BID plan aims to increase prospects for town centre businesses by running a number of initiatives. These include:

l free afternoon car parking for all at Mill Road car park

l a new marketing campaign for the town

l reduced advertising rates for BID businesses

l practical workshops tailored to the needs of business owners

l ensuring that Okehampton and District Chamber of Trade's town promotions manager is funded for the next five years.

The move to support the town promotions manager role, currently carried out by Lisa Wadling, has led the town's chamber of trade to support the BID.

John Elson, BID steering group member, said: 'The BID will produce a group that has a voice. The council will listen, they have to.

'The BID is not all about money used to tart up the town. There is much more to it than just the pounds and the pence.'

It would be funded by a levy on the businesses within the BID boundary — set as the town centre, the area around Okehampton Station and businesses operating on the North Road Industrial Estate under a retail planning consent.

The levy has been set at 1.75% of a business' rateable value, raising around £200,000 during its five-year lifespan. All businesses in the BID area whose premises have a rateable value of at least £4,000 have been sent postal ballot papers so they can vote for or against the scheme.

To ensure the interests of both large and small businesses are considered the ballot must be won by securing at least 50% of the vote and by the rateable value majority of those voting for the BID.

The levy money would be collected by the borough council and paid into a ring-fenced BID account.