Our Colchester Business Improvement District (BID) welcomes the opportunity of significant investment in the City Centre and supports the theory of establishing a City Centre Masterplan.

However, it has significant concerns over several proposals presented within the proposal, some
items it would not be able to support such as any mechanism of charging to access the City Centre.

Other concerns are centred around business deliveries/collections and importantly the timings and
phasing of any works proposed. It would not want to see major schemes at both ends of the City Centre at the same time for example. It also considers that the delivery of the RTS is an important driver to the economy of the city centre and cannot afford to be delivered late or out of sequence to other works.

After careful consideration of the Masterplan document, the BID considers that it does nothing to promote or enhance retail operations in the city, in fact it is of the opinion that it will create more barriers to existing or potential retail operators.

The BID would welcome being included at the very early stages of development to understand and influence any implications on businesses and would ask for reassurances that any concerns it raises will be taken into consideration by both the City and County Councils respectively.

The BID has considered fully the Masterplan document but has also commented on the Colchester City Centre Transport Plan as it sees this as an important and integral document to the Masterplan.

The BID will respond to planning applications or traffic regulation orders that affect the delivery of the Masterplan.

Therefore, please find attached the BIDs detailed response to both documents, together with a copy of the Economic Impact Assessment it commissioned, which emphasises and supports the BID’s comments on the absolute necessity that schemes are phased, carried out and completed in a fully controlled concise manner to ensure the economic impact on the City Centre is lessened as much as possible.