I WATCHED the Christmas lights switch-on event in Chippenham on Friday evening and was pleased to see it restored to the original format in the Market Place. The café, opposite my shop in the Market Place, had trade restored to that of previous years when the council organised this event. However, the cafés in New Road and Borough Parade obviously did not expect to see a return on their BID levy investment as they remained closed for the event.   
I understand the event budget of £40,000 was twice that of when the town council organised the same Christmas light switch-on event in 2014. Also, it was regrettable that the £8,000 fireworks could not be set off due to wind direction (9mph NNE) and I would personally prefer to see a refund to the BID for the fireworks rather than them being released on another date. Interestingly, Devizes Christmas lights switch-on, which was held on the same night, set off their fireworks as scheduled. I fully accept the decision to cancel the fireworks due to safety concerns, but feel perhaps their inclusion was at best optimistic, as the weather seemed almost perfect.
If the bid’s main event has to be contracted out, perhaps the town council should book the event directly with Jules Brogan from Verve. Last year the Chippenham BID’s operating costs were in excess of £80,000 – with this spend do they not have the organisational skills to organise this type of event in-house? 
Chippenham Town Council has previously stipulated that the unallocated BID underspend of approximately £20,000 from 2015/16 be returned to the council. Is their money more important than that of the businesses in Chippenham who are forced to pay the BID levy? 
EDWARD KIRK
Proprietor
Scholars
Chippenham