Activate Perth receives funding for BID exploration.
Business Improvement districts (Bids) are not a new concept.More than 2,000 operate globally and have helped transform underperforming precincts into some of the world’s most sought after city centres, from London’s West End to Sydney’s Western Harbour.
The question now is whether our CBD is ready, willing, supported and structured to make a BID work. That was the focus of last Friday’s roundtable workshop.
Activate Perth has been funded by the State Government to explore what a BID model could look like in our CBD and whether it stands up in a local context. On Friday 13th February, we brought together a cross section of stakeholders to test the landscape, assess the appetite and interrogate the practical realities.
In the room were the Hon John Carey MLA, Bruce Reynolds Lord Mayor City of Perth, City of Perth CEO Michelle Reynolds, along with representatives from the Property Council WA, the Small Business Development Corporation, Edith Cowan University and close to 30 major property owners and agents.
We were also joined by BID specialists Jace Tyrrell and Geoff Parmenter, who shared candid insights from cities that have implemented BIDs, what worked, what didn’t and what it genuinely takes to sustain one. The conversation focused on what lessons Perth can adopt and where we need to adapt.
What was clear? There is a strong appetite for a Perth CBD that is vibrant, magnetic, economically alive and one that generates pride.
The ambition is there. Now we work on what comes next. Watch this space.
Photographer: Benjamin Ford
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