A THREE-YEAR project to inject cash into a town’s industrial estates has reached a significant step.

Witham Industrial Watch has published its proposal for a business improvement district scheme (BIDs), and companies will be asked to vote over the plan next month.

If there are sufficient votes in favour, businesses on the estates will be asked to pay a one per cent levy of their rateable value a year, up to a limit of £2,000, towards improvements to benefit the area.

These include CCTV and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to improve security, provision of better signage and parking, and employment of an estate manager.

Sally Carpenter, from Witham Industrial Watch, said: “Making the industrial areas safer, cleaner, and more attractive to employees, businesses and prospective investors, will bring long-term benefits and increased employment opportunities to the whole community.”

Insp Neil Murray, of Witham police, said the group was one of the best in the district, and had already worked with officers by sharing information to crack down on crime.

He said: “What the BIDs will do for Witham Industrial Watch is enable them to have the funding to take them to the next step.

“CCTV and ANPR will be a deterrent to criminals who want to come to the area.”

Insp Murray said the introduction of the scheme was important, given the industrial estates’ close proximity to the A12, a transport link which could be used by criminals.

If it gets the go-ahead, the BIDs scheme would run from this year until 2014, with an anticipated revenue of £109,000 a year through the levy on businesses.