Pop-up businesses could soon make use of Isle of Wight Council-owned sites across the Island from Easter 2022.
Details of pilot plans of how council-owned sites could be brought into temporary use by small ‘pop up’ business or commercial users are set to go before Cabinet this month.
The council is looking to market some of its underused spaces or sites for small scale commercial/business opportunities on an annual basis. This would both generate income to reinvest in council services, support the local economy and encourage new business ventures.
Cabinet lead for Regeneration, Business Development and Tourism, Councillor Julie Jones-Evans, said:
“This scheme will showcase and support potential small business entrepreneurs we already have on the Island. It will also give small start-ups the opportunity to test the waters and see if outdoor-based business works for them.
“The long-term aim would be to increase the number of projects across the Island to support small businesses, diversify local areas and engage local communities. It could cover a range of businesses from food concessions, fitness classes to outdoor pursuits or other ideas that would fit in with the location and really breathe new life into our towns, villages and open spaces, as well as strengthening our local economy”.
Initial plans are to pilot a limited range of opportunities that readily identify themselves as having the potential to generate interest and income.
The council already rents, leases or licences sites that have either been traditionally used for small ‘pop up’ concessions such as beaches and parks or where an approach has been made by a local business. In the past, this has included beach concessions, beach huts, industrial units, for example.
This new pilot project aims to explore the council’s wider portfolio of land which has wider community value such as beaches, parks and other areas of amenity land and countryside. The project will also let the council take on board the views of the local community in the process.
Officer recommendation is to market a small number of council sites for pop up businesses ready for Easter 2022 as a pilot scheme. If successful, the pilot will be developed into a wider project covering more sites to start in 2023.
The details of the pilot sites to be offered are to be agreed by the Cabinet Member for Regeneration.
Another nail in the coffin of small shops in town who have to deal with high rents, high rates, Amazon, pound shops and destructive coucil parking charges to deal with. I wish younger people could see the Newport I grew up in back in the early seventies. It’s just now a sad shadow of what was a vibrant, County market town.
How about some pop up shops in the town centre – you know to replace all those businesses priced up due to rip of rents and parking charges ??????
Hope they offer free parking where these businesses pop-up or else they may not have many customers popping in.
Great idea, a lot will depend on where they are though and what sort of planning permission there is on them.
Could involve change of use planning applications at who’s expense?