Enterprising Bathgate General Meeting

Venue:                       Regal Community Theatre
Date / Time:              Thursday 2nd July 2009 / 7.30pm

Enterprising Bathgate Board Members in Attendance:
David Stein - Chair, Alan Dunlop - Vice Chair, Chris James, Alan Waddell, Jim McLellan, Pat McGinley, Jim Gallagher, John McGinty, William Boyle

Suzanne McCardle - BIDs Manager West Lothian, Pat Kerr - BIDs Coordinator.

Apologies: Paul Hickman

Audience: Yvonne Williamson - Williamson Florist, Anne Dobbie - Anne and Bobbies, Barbara Waddell - Kilt Studio, Bernadette Gallacher - Personal Touch, Eileen Gibson - Aulds, Steve Ingledow – Dacoll Group, Peter McEwan – Genius, Marie McEwan – Genius, Tom Morrison – Bathgate Legion, Michael Connarty MP, John Johnston – Present time, Jeanette Johnston – Present Time, Kirstie Stein – Stein Butchers, Graham Jones – Lothian and Borders Police, George Macdonald – Fresh n’ Fragrant, Irene Macdonald – Fresh n’ Fragrant,  Peter Lee – Peter and Bernard Hairdressing, Margaret Lee – Peter and Bernard Hairdressing, Carol Francit – Colours Studio, Julian Farrar – Ironside Farrar Environmental Consultants.

Welcome from David Stein

David Stein welcomed the audience to Enterprising Bathgate’s first General Meeting. He outlined how in March 2008 Bathgate became the first Business Improvement District in Scotland.
He informed the audience of how Enterprising Bathgate is set up. The board is made up of 14 business owners in the BID defined area plus the 3 elected members for Bathgate. In addition, the board is supported by the West Lothian BIDs Manager and 2 co-ordinators are tasked with implementing the projects outlined in the business plan. 2 other advisors also work with the board, Alistair Shaw, WLC and a representative from Lothian and Borders Police. He also highlighted that there is much to do over the next 4 years to deliver the projects highlighted by the town’s businesses in the questionnaire and detailed in the business plan and the BID team look forward to working with the business community to implement these projects successfully.

Presentation of Accounts 2008/09

Alan Dunlop presented a summary of Enterprising Bathgate’s first year accounts. After his presentation AD stressed that the accounts for the company had still to be audited, after which the report would be available for levy payers.

Marketing / Promotion

Pat Kerr delivered a presentation of Enterprising Bathgate’s marketing and promotion projects. The presentation highlighted EB’s new website, quarterly newsletters, bus advertising campaign and car sticker competition as well as EB’s sponsorship of local events such as WL Run, Highland Games, Bathgate Procession and Music Festival. The audience were also made aware of the role EB plays in the Christmas Events for the town, for example the Big Wheel entertainment in the Steelyard, the ‘Design a Christmas Light’ competition which was a huge success in its first year and will continue for the next four years, plus the contribution made by EB to the towns Christmas Lights displays throughout the town.

Safe and Secure

David Stein informed the audience of the success of the ShopSafe Retail Radio Link. Progress on the town’s CCTV upgrade as well as the improvements made to the lighting and sight lines at various areas in the town.

Clean and Attractive

David Stein told the audience that the Shop Front Improvement Scheme had been a huge success and on the back of this success EB had introduced a new Premises Improvement Scheme and to date almost 50 businesses wee taking advantage of the scheme. He told the audience that this is generally recognised as being one of the major successes in improving the attractiveness of the town.
David Stein also highlighted another success was the commissioning and management of the Public Realm Design Guide and that the Design Guide has been adopted by the Council in January 2009.

Public Realm Design Guide

Julian Farrar from Ironside Farrar Environmental Consultants gave the audience a more in depth view of what the Design Guide meant to a town like Bathgate and how it will be used to co-ordinate all future improvements to the town and help the town create its own distinctive sense of place. He also informed the audience that he was very impressed by the amount of feedback Enterprising Bathgate received from members of the public on the issues of new projects planned for the town, including new signs, improvements to the vennels and car parks.

Town Centres Regeneration Fund

Julian Farrar informed the meeting of the new Town Centres Regeneration Fund announced by the Scottish Government in February 2009. He informed them that a joint application from Enterprising Bathgate and West Lothian Council had been submitted at the start of June and news of the outcome was expected at the end of July 2009. He emphasised that a successful bid for funds would bring about the biggest investment in Bathgate town centre in living memory.

Enterprising Bathgate – Year 2

David Stein brought the presentations to a close by emphasising just how crucial the Regeneration Fund Application was to the future of the town. He also informed the meeting that the money held over from Year 1 for Capital projects in the town added to this years allocation would mean that more than £240,000 would be available in Year 2 to deliver the projects. This money included additional funding secured by Enterprising Bathgate from the Council to enhance the new Premises Improvement Scheme.

David Stein then asked the audience if they had any questions they would like to ask.

Questions:

Anne from Anne and Bobbies asked what would happen with the money if the application for Regeneration Funds was successful. Julian Farrar answered by pointing out those projects like resurfacing of the pedestrian precinct, improvements to the vennels, improvements to car parks, street furniture and improved signage for the town would all be able to be progressed.

Tom Morrison from The British Legion complained that the land between the ‘Old Post Office’ and the Legion was a mess and could anything be done to rectify the situation. Jim Gallagher from the Volunteer Centre, who took over the old Post Office building, suggested that he would try and enlist some volunteers to tackle the problem. David Stein also said that the situation of the derelict land would be brought up at the next Town Centre Management Group Meeting.

How can we improve car parking in the town was asked by a number of the audience.
It was pointed out that the main cause of the car parking problems lies with the number of people who come into the town centre, park their cars and then travel to work in Edinburgh by train for the day. David Stein told the audience that alternative areas for car parking are being investigated to try and alleviate the problem. It was also pointed out that when the new Rail Station is completed there will be many car park spaces available for the commuters at the station and this should help the situation.

Marie McEwan from Genius asked if something could be done about attracting new businesses to the town from other areas in West Lothian. David Stein said that he would investigate this with the Business Gateway of West Lothian Council and with the Town Centre Management Group.

Peter McEwan from Genius pointed out that although the Christmas Lights were indeed much better than they have been in the past he wondered if they could placed at a lower level on the lampposts. Pat Kerr indicated that they were placed at that level for wind resistance and stress level purposes, he also informed Peter that he would find out all he could about this situation from The Lighting Department of the Council and report back to him.

Jim Gallagher from the Volunteer Centre asked if there were any plans for the larger vacant shop premises such as Woolworths and the unit on the ground floor of St David House. Suzanne McCardle replied that the Woolworths unit is in the hands of their administrators and St. David House is leased by Tesco and that she had met with Tesco to discuss the possibility of sub dividing the unit, however there would need to be a justified demand, which there is not at this time.

A Feedback Questionnaire was handed to all those attending and a number of them were returned. These will be analysed at a later date and individuals who require direct answers to their questions will be contacted.

David Stein brought the meeting to a close and thanked all who had attended.

Pat Kerr