MORE than 250 of the town’s businesses have been kept up to date with the progress of the new Minehead Business Improvement District scheme by the first monthly newsletter which went out from the organisers last week.

If the Government scheme is approved by traders it could raise over £500,000 in the next five years to help transform the fortunes of the town.

At the project’s launch in August, businesses were told that the fundamental principle of a BID was that it must reflect the priorities of the people who will vote for it, pay for it and benefit from the scheme.

The initiative’s spokesman, Lucy Ball, said that a series of drop-in sessions had been arranged so that businesses could find out more about the scheme and offer their ideas and thoughts about what was needed to make Minehead more vibrant and successful.

Drop-in sessions will be held at at The Hobby Horse, on The Esplanade, from 4.30pm to 6.30pm tomorrow (October 11) and Chambers Bistro, in The Avenue, from 1.30pm to 5.30pm on Tuesday, October 17, and 1.30pm to 6.30pm on Thursday, October 19. No appointments are necessary.

The newsletter includes a questionnaire that all businesses are urged to complete and return. Any business can ask for a meeting with either Graham Sizer or Lucy Ball who are leading the initiative.

Mrs Ball said that the results of the consultation would shape the five-year BID business plan that businesses will be invited to vote on next spring.