More than 1100 businesses are joining forces to expand Onehunga’s Business Improvement (BID) District.
That’s an additional 500+ local businesses in Onehunga that are now part of the BID programme to enhance the local economy and attract new businesses and customers.
BIDs are areas within Auckland where local businesses and property owners work together using funds from a targeted rate. The programme aims to provide support, encourage growth and build resilience through collaboration.
Onehunga’s BID expansion proposal and strategy, led by Onehunga Business Association, was recently approved by Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board with a newly set targeted rate to be recommended to the council’s Governing Body.
Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board chair, Maria Meredith is delighted with the scale of Onehunga’s BID expansion and the work that Onehunga Business Association has put into achieving this.
“We are thrilled so many businesses in Onehunga are willing to band together and we are more than happy to endorse this expansion,” says chair Meredith.
“Onehunga is one of our three key town centres, where the BID is already doing amazing mahi to make the town centre inviting and safe for the community to visit. We’re really looking forward to seeing it thrive with more businesses collaborating,” she says.
“This major achievement would not have been possible without Onehunga Business Association, which has been working towards expansion for years.”
BID programmes are operated by independent business associations, which collect a targeted rate and provide services established through BID members’ agreed priorities. Targeted rate funds are provided to the business association as a grant to be used for improvements in the area.
Onehunga Business Association Manager, Amanda Wellgreen is pleased with her team’s efforts.
“We were responsible for communicating and sharing information, and managing the engagement process with all eligible voters to make an informed voting decision and this work has really paid off for everyone," says Wellgreen.
Work also involved identifying how the existing BID programme would need to evolve to meet the needs of the businesses located within the proposed wider Onehunga BID area.
To successfully achieve expansion, the BID was required to undertake an independent ballot to determine the level of support for the expansion. Onehunga’s BID proposed expansion ballot was successful with more than 70 per cent of responses supporting expansion.
“The new targeted rate of $1,000,000 spread across the newly expanded business district is more cost effective than what business owners were paying with the previous rate of $420,000 in 2023/2024 spread across 563 businesses,” explains Wellgreen.
With the newly proposed targeted rate endorsed by the local board, approval for the rate is expected to be finalised as part of the Long-term Plan 2024-2034 and Annual Budget 2024/2025 in June 2024.
View the full report on the proposed expansion, including a map of the area here.
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