Carnoustie businesses have responded well to a meeting setting out the steps towards getting a Business Improvement District (BID) for the town.
More than 30 local business owners attended the event to learn more about the Connecting Carnoustie proposal from appointed Bid consultant Neil Cooney, who has successful past experience with BIDs in Scotland.
He covered the legislative process and highlighted benefits gained by other Scottish Bids, including matched funding from external sources.
The meeting was also given clarification on the baseline agreement with Angus Council, which would ensure the BID levy raised would not replace any current council services in Carnoustie.
An outline business plan based on the input from 60-plus surveys and consultations so far was distributed for review.
Mr Cooney and Peter Burke, interim chairman of the steering committee, stressed that the meeting was only the beginning of the journey and many more surveys and consultations will take place before further draft plans are created.
The hope is to deliver a final business plan by the end of the year, on which business owners in the BID area will vote.
Mr Burke said: “I was pleased that so many businesses were able to attend this first open meeting.
“We covered a huge amount of ground and now all attendees will have the accurate information on how the BID would work in Carnoustie both before and after the ballot.
“Attendees were also invited to arrange one-to-one consultations with Neil, who can be contacted at neil_cooney@hotmail.com.”