It's a 'yes'!
It gives us great pleasure to advise you of the positive outcome of the ballot for the establishment of the Tonypandy Business Improvement District. We want to thank you for backing our five-year plan and for giving us this opportunity to make Tonypandy town centre more vibrant.
The new flagship organisation will focus on: Marketing and promotion; Communication and support; Experience and perception, and Access.
We are keen to continue to make a case for the new organisation, which will bring a commercial perspective to the management and improvement of the town centre. We would also like to hear what ideas you might have.
Tonypandy BID will be run by a volunteer board of directors comprised of local businesses and other stakeholders. The Board will set the strategic direction of the BID, provide governance and manage any staff which will deliver the projects and services as set out in the BID Proposal.
Please get in touch with us if you would like to get involved in the Board or the Theme Groups.
The first post-ballot steering group meeting will be held on Wednesday, 20th August at 5:30pm in The Ark on De Winton Street. Please come along and find out more about the BID and becoming a director.
Read on to find out more information about the BID.
Introduction
Tonypandy, like many towns across the UK, has faced challenges in recent years, including shifts in footfall and retail patterns through a decline in footfall and the departure of national and independent retailers from bricks and mortar premises. Neighbouring towns are faring much better. Therefore, we believe the time has come for us to come together as a business community to shape our town’s future. By working together, we feel we can make a real difference.
We want to create a Business Improvement District (BID) in Tonypandy. A BID is a business-led and funded initiative that invests resources into a defined area on matters that are priorities for our businesses. A BID would raise an investment pot of over £96,615 over five years from a levy of 2% of the rateable value of eligible businesses, together with the opportunity to leverage in further grants and funding. The money will be spent on a targeted programme of projects chosen by our businesses.
We are proud to bring you this proposal for our town centre’s future. We know it will help you confirm your support for the BID.
Documents
On Thursday 5th June 2025, all eligible businesses were sent a notice of ballot in the post. This notice included a summary of BID arrangements and the BID proposal document. The proposal details everything that the BID plans to do in the case of a successful vote. There is also lots of information on the BID works, how much you will be liable to pay, and how the BID levy will be spent.
You can download the BID ballot proposal and the summary of BID arrangements through the links below.
The ballot
Tonypandy BID will now be established following a successful ballot vote of eligible businesses in Tonypandy town centre.
On Thursday 19th June 2025, all businesses within the proposed BID boundary with a rateable value of £5,000 and above received a ballot paper in the post at the ratepayer’s address. Ballot papers had to be returned within a month, by 5pm on Thursday 17th July 2025.
For Tonypandy BID to be established, the ballot had to pass on both of the following counts:
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A simple majority of those voting must be in favour
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The votes of those in favour must represent more than 50% of the total rateable value of the properties that vote
If your business has a rateable value of £5,000 or more, then you were eligible to vote in
the Tonypandy BID ballot and thus eligible to pay the BID levy when the BID is established.
Key dates
Thursday 5th June 2025 – Notice of ballot
If your business is eligible to vote, you would have received an information pack in the post about the ballot, including a copy of the proposal document.
Thursday 19th June 2025 – Ballot opened
Businesses were instructed to look out for their ballot papers in the mail from this date. The vote was mostly carried out via post – a pre-paid envelope was included in the voting pack.
Thursday 17th July 2025 – Ballot closed at 5pm
Businesses were encouraged to have their say – every vote counts! A ballot box was available in Tonypandy Library on this day to ensure any last-minute votes could be cast on time and counted.
Friday 18th July 2025 – Result received
The result was received and announced as soon as all votes had been counted and verified.
Wednesday 1st October 2025 – BID goes live
The BID begins its first term.
FAQs
What is a Business Improvement District?
A Business Improvement District (BID) is a business-led and -funded partnership where businesses within a defined area invest money together to make the improvements that they identify for their trading environment. A BID is established through a democratic ballot process in which businesses in the defined geographic area vote in response to a BID proposal.
If a BID ballot is successful, then a BID company is set up to manage and operate the BID – this is an independent, non-profit organisation run by and for BID members. Each BID is funded through its own discrete BID levy, which is a small percentage of a business’ rateable value. All services provided by a BID are additional to those delivered by the local authority.
There are now over 300 BIDs in the UK, with the closest to Tonypandy being Love Treorchy, Your Pontypridd, Our Aberdare, and the Big Heart of Merthyr Tydfil.
Contact
If you have a question we haven’t answered on this page, or if you would like to make a difference in Tonypandy, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us on:
07803 503972
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