Apology over cancelled business district vote

The taxpayer will have to pick up the cost of a second ballot to decide whether there will be another five-year term for Hull’s Business Improvement District after the error was spotted.

New ballot papers will go out on September 26, with voting concluding on October 24. The result will be announced the following day.

Hull Council’s head of corporate planning and finance, Brendan Arnold, said: “Regrettably we have to stop the current ballot. Rather than risk it being declared void at a later date, we are organising a new ballot and we are sorry for any inconvenience our error has caused.”

Independent retailers fighting the renewal of the improvement district seized on the development, claiming the cancellation was a result of their pointing out a number of “irregularities” to council representatives.

However Ian Kelly, chief executive of Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce, who sits on the Business Improvement District board, said it was simply a technical error.

He said: “Someone pressed the wrong button and sent out the wrong list.”

Hull Council confirmed that ballot papers would only go to businesses with a rateable value of above £5,000. In all 1,186 business are set to be polled.

The district charges all firms within the district one per cent of their rateable value for services including removing graffiti and supporting events, but has faced opposition from within almost from the outset. If the vote goes against the district, it will be wound up later this year.

Chairman Victoria Jackson recently branded opponents “selfish”, claiming the district had delivered “vast improvements”.

However some independent retailers have been urging businesses to vote against, saying many of the initiatives it funds should be paid for from their existing business rates and taxes.