A BOOST has been given to Tavistock Chamber of Commerce's drive to create a Business Improvement District (BID) in the town, thanks to a grant last week from the Big Lottery Fund's Awards for All programme.

The £8,500 grant was one of four grants obtained by the chamber since March, totalling £46,950, which will go towards putting together the BID proposal.

Chamber chairman Nigel Eadie, said: 'The chamber has been applying for grants since March. We made four applications, one to Dartmoor Leaf, one to West Devon Borough Council, one to Tavistock Town Council and one to the Big Lottery Fund.

'The grants are not cash in the bank, a lot of it you have to pay for and then claim it back afterwards. The money is all put towards the BID proposal.'

As the Times went to press yesterday (Wednesday), the first of a series of consultation meetings was due to be held at the Bedford Hotel for business owners in Tavistock.

The meeting was to explain the BID, give details about the proposal, how a BID works and how the proposal would affect businesses and the town.

The public were invited to come up with ideas for the BID, the best of which will be put into the proposal.

When the five-year business plan is set, a ballot will be sent out to business owners to vote on whether to go ahead with the BID or not. If the majority of business owners vote for the plan, the BID will become law.

The BID will mean businesses within a defined area will pay a yearly levy of 1.5% of their rateable value, into a ring-fenced account, with the money going to fund agreed improvement schemes in the area.