BUSINESSES refusing to pay the levy for the Clevedon Business Improvement District (BID) after it was controversially approved say they have been hit with a court threat.

The vote to keep the BID — a levy on all businesses within the area to fund improvements in the town — running for another five years took place last summer.

The vote for the BID would have failed if North Somerset Council had not used its properties in the town — including the soon-to-be-closed Castlewood office complex and three car parks — to vote that it should continue.

Businesses appealed the ballot to the Secretary of State but he did not find in their favour.

Now, businesses taking part in a “payment protest” and refusing to pay the levy for the BID have been told it could soon be them in court.

The protest started a year ago but the first bills were later revoked due to the appeal, with revised bills sent out in February.

Daniel Adams of Stationary House on the Triangle has received an email from the BID team at North Somerset Council that warned: “The recovery process will commence immediately.”

The email stated: “Failure to make payment in full will result in a Court Summons being issued which will incur additional costs.

“To avoid this, payment in full should be made immediately.”

Mr Adams said: “Many businesses across Clevedon are rightly refusing to pay the levy demands made of them by the council.

“The council itself enjoys a 50 per cent discount from the BID in what it has to pay, but then expects the businesses and charity shops to pay in, in full.

“How is this fair or just?”

The Castlewood office complex enjoys the discount because it is considered to lie outside of the town centre area, just down the road from the Triangle and Stationary House.

Mr Adams added: “The businesses are now questioning what they are paying for and because of this more are lined up to join our payment protest.

“The council has refused multiple requests to meet with the businesses, instead preferring to thrash out issues over emails.

“Rather than make an attempt to reach an agreement with us all they have the cheek to threaten us with a court summons instead!”

A spokesperson for North Somerset Council said they were not aware of the payment protest but defended the council’s decision to vote in favour of the BID.

The spokesperson said: “As the local authority, North Somerset Council was legally required by law to run a ballot on behalf of those proposing the Clevedon BID.

“We held a ballot last year on the BID proposals for 2024 – 2028, and the BID was passed.

“The campaign against the BID lodged an appeal to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State has investigated the matter and upheld that the result is lawful.

“Before the vote took place, the council was aware of the concerns of part of the business community.

“However, as the owner of a small number of properties within the BID area, we were legally entitled to vote and chose to do so.

“We did this as we think the BID activities significantly benefit Clevedon’s retail and hospitality sectors and have a positive effect on the residents who use the town’s public areas.

“As the numerical majority of businesses voted in favour of the BID, it seems this view is shared by most of the local businesses in the area.

“When adding up the rateable value of the businesses who voted in favour of the BID, compared to those who didn’t, we acknowledge that the outcome would have been different if council properties had been excluded, under the requirement that the ballot has to pass both tests (numerical majority and rateable value).”

But local councillor Luke Smith (Clevedon West, Conservative) criticised the council’s approach.

He said: “With a £450k public levy at stake it’s shocking that North Somerset Council hasn’t visibly interrogated the BID proposals or set out the rationale for casting its votes.

“Clevedon’s businesses are clearly protesting against the BID which isn’t functioning to the standards they expect.”

He warned: “Taking businesses to court will cause great damage to local businesses, the town, and the council. Surely, a better way forward is available?”

The ballot for the Clevedon BID had to take into account both the number of votes and the rateable value of the businesses casting their votes.

The numerical vote was won 80-61 and would have still been won if the council did not cast their six votes.

But the ballot would have been lost because the rateable value of the businesses opposed to the BID was £978k.

The ballot was won with £2.014m in favour, but this would only have been £919m if the council had not cast its votes.

The council spokesperson added: “The BID is an independent organisation, with a board made up largely of local business representatives.

“North Somerset Council holds one seat, but does not in any way have a controlling voice, and our general approach is to support the initiatives proposed locally.

“We would encourage those businesses unhappy with how the BID is run to get more involved at the local level, so they can have their say and influence its activity.”