The future of seaside towns and coastal communities has recently been discussed by the House of Lords Select Committee. Their Recommendations to help Seaside Towns is available to view, ready for the next stage of government response and debate.
The Chairman of the Committee, Lord Bassam of Brighton commented:
“Places like Brighton and Bournemouth have shown that ‘the seaside’ can successfully reinvent itself. The Committee is confident that if our recommendations are pursued seaside towns can once again become prosperous and desirable places to live in and visit.”
Interestingly, both of these towns have thriving Business Improvement Districts. Whilst we wait to hear more about what government funded initiatives will become available for Coastal areas, here are some of the projects that these 2 BIDs are delivering.
Brighton BID is now in its 3rd, 5 year term and has been successfully delivering projects that ensure the environment is clean, safe and importantly, an area that people want to return to. Businesses recognised the importantance of having a vibrant and attractive centre, so the BID delivers the towns Summer City Dressing project. Bunting, floral displays and signage (Created with the community) create a sense of pride, place and opportunities to promote businesses and events.
The project runs May-September before the Christmas lights installations starts, where through focusing on the appearance, they have created yet another reason for people to visit and support retailers in the town.
Bournemouth Coastal BID, now in its 2nd, 5 year term have created an innovative Augmented Reality App to drive footfall, create trails and promote the Bournemouth Coastal area to the next generation of tech savy visitors. The App however, isn’t just for visitors, it is something that residents can also use and enjoy. Local retailers are a key part of the App success and creates a new shopping experience for families and a new way for businesses to collectively promote themselves through seasonally themed competitions.
Brighton and Bournmouth are 2 of 100’s of BIDs around the UK that we can can take inspiration from. However, for the Yorkshire Coast to remain competitive we need to make our projects even more innovative and exciting. We are always open to ideas, so let us know if you have an idea that the BID can help you with.
