The 21st December is the shortest day of the year and the warmer weather certainly seems a very long way off.
But the Lowestoft Vision team is already looking forward to next spring, when ballot papers will be sent to all businesses located within our Business Improvement District (BID) to ask if they want to renew the Lowestoft Vision BID for another five years.
Now, I know that as Chair of Lowestoft Vision I’m biased, but I really do believe that Lowestoft Vision has made the town centre a better place to work, live and do business over the last five years.
This year alone we have arranged a wide range of events - from the 1940s weekend to the Freddie the Fish summer trail, and from the Halloween parade to the Christmas Lights switch on, all of which have seen increased footfall and engagement within the town.
We have also continued to part-fund our Police Community Support Officer Mike Soanes to patrol the BID area and supplied security radios that ensure the safety of our community, along with hanging baskets, bunting and banners that have been arranged to improve the look of the town.
That’s just a few of our recent successes but we are not complacent – far from it. There is still much more that we would like to achieve on behalf of our local businesses.
The final consultation for our BID renewal has already gone out to BID businesses and is available on our website, and shortly we will be sending all BID businesses our business plan for the next five years, should Lowestoft Vision’s remit be renewed. BID businesses will then receive their ballot papers in the spring and will be asked to vote on whether they would like Lowestoft Vision to continue to deliver all the projects and services – and more again - listed in this plan.
So 2018 promises to be a good year for Lowestoft. In the meantime, as we approached the end of this year, may I, on behalf of Lowestoft Vision, wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
