Falmouth businesses have voted in favour of a third five-year term for the Business Improvement District (BID) scheme.

With a turnout of 63 percent, 87 percent of voters from a variety of sectors decided to keep the scheme going.

Around £160,000 will be spent on delivering projects and services to support the town every year until 2024 when another ballot will be held to decide the future of the BID.

The mayor of Falmouth, councillor Grenville Chappel, said: “The work of the Falmouth BID has been crucial and I am delighted that our business community have voted comprehensively to continue supporting the award-winning efforts. It’s tough trading out there and so it’s imperative we do all we can to invest in our special town.

"Furthermore, with modest resources at our disposal, the partnership forged between the BID and Falmouth Town Council has not only secured but added value to numerous town assets and services which would have otherwise been lost.”

Looking ahead to the next term, Falmouth BID plan to focus on four key areas: delivering a marketing campaign, organising events to increase footfall, improving the town's visual appeal and identifying and implementing ways to help businesses thrive.

Some of the projects that Falmouth BID have successfully carried out in the past include providing local businesses with free training in website design, customer service and marketing.

The team also looked at more ways to offer free and reduced parking to visitors, and lobbied on behalf of the town to improve rail connections and business rates.

One of their most significant successes since the scheme first started in 2009 has been the falmouth.co.uk website and associated PR campaign which has improved Falmouth's reputation as a tourist destination.

Falmouth BID also improved the look of the town with plants, street decorations and furniture and improved lighting.

To fund some of the BID's activities, all local businesses with a rateable value of more than £5,000 must pay a mandatory 1 percent levy.

According to the BID team, more than 80 percent of businesses in Falmouth would have had to pay less than £10 per week between 2014 and 2019 towards the scheme, whilst 66 percent of businesses paid less than £4 per week.

On top of this income from businesses, the BID team has secured additional contributions from other organisations which will be allocated to town projects.

Falmouth BID is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee and is overseen by a board of directors who are business people from the town. They freely volunteer their time and expertise to support the BID Manager Richard Wilcox in delivering a wide range of projects.