A TOWN councillor who proposed that Test Valley Borough Council should only use one vote in the upcoming BID ballot has explained the reasons behind his idea. 

Cllr Stuart  Waue put forward a motion which was debated at an Andover Town Council meeting on Wednesday, September 20, calling for a letter to be written to Test Valley Borough Council asking it to only cast one vote during Business Improvement District's (BID) re-ballot on Thursday, November 2.

Andover BID was established in 2019 for a five-year term, which will expire on March 31, next year. The BID vote in 2019 passed by 70 to 67. 

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During the town council meeting, a recorded vote took place, with councillors voting against asking the borough council to only use one vote.

Cllr Waue said: "I'm disappointed that my motion was met with such resistance, and that councillors turned it into a pro-BID vs anti-BID debate.

"In fact, one of the arguments against my motion was that councils shouldn't be trying to influence such a vote, but this just added more weight to my suggestion that Test Valley Borough Council shouldn't use a large number of votes to sway it one way or the other.

"I stated several times before that my proposal isn't based on being anti-BID and that I'd be equally disappointed if the borough council used their large number of votes against the BID.

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"I just want the upcoming BID renewal ballot to be above reproach and be decided by the businesses within the levy zone that have weighed up the benefits against the costs to make their decision."

The borough council has 23 votes out of around 242 votes which all get the opportunity to vote. 

The Advertiser contacted Andover BID but it did not supply a comment and Test Valley Borough Council but it did not want to comment.