Missed again!

To save you looking, no-one from Boston is listed in the New Year Honours!
Why does that not surprise us?


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The Ballad of Bostonland

Our last blog until the New Year features a non-seasonal faintly pantomimic ode by Boston's poet laureate Carol Ann Duffer.
We hope it brings a smile to you face, and wish your all the best for Christmas and the New Year.

The Ballad of Bostonland

There once was a place called Bostonland,
A magical place that was oh, so grand.
But the old Queen Joyce
Lost her grip on the crown
And the quality of life
Went down and down.

The horses and carts
Got stuck on the roads.
And often didn't move for hours.
So bad were the jams
That the horse**** piled up,
And roses became the most popular flowers

Then along came a champion -
Richard his name.
And he made this almost incredible claim

"Just vote for me and my men of true grit
"And in one fell swoop,
"and not bit by bit
"I'll sweep away all of this vile old horse****"

'Twas a big and bold plan that had people enthralled,
And 'ere long good King Dick and his team were installed
But they dickered and bickered
And messed up the job.
And soon Bostonland broke out in a sob.

How they cried,
How they gnashed and they wailed:
"You've failed us King Richard."
They railed and they cursed:
"You promised the best
"But delivered the worst."

Not only that.
You said horse**** would go
But what have you done - do you think we don't know?
Despite what you promised you don't care a bit
The vile fruit of the horse
You've replaced with BULL****

We'll be back on Monday January 4th


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Week ending 18th December

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
Thanks a million ... (well, 30,000 anyway.) Your continued support saw our blog celebrate 30,000 hits during the course of the week. Thanks for helping to make our little effort so successful ... and please tell your friends where to find us. We were especially touched when a new reader wrote to tell us: "I do enjoy reading your blog, as it gives me a better idea of the state of the place than I could read in any biased newspaper!"
Talking of which ... We commented the other week on the "new look" Boston Standard, and how it now offers readers even less through the use of bigger pictures, bigger headlines and larger typefaces. This "improvement" is growing apace as this week's issue shows. Some pages carry no more than three stories, and a count across the main news pages show an average of just two to a page.
New books? This is a library! ... We don't like the colour scheme, but after years of campaigning, we welcome the news that Boston Library is getting a face lift. What's on the cards? New carpets, signs and general decoration and "convenient" self-service technology. We have our doubts about this latter offering. In all the years we've been using the library, we've seldom seen anyone manage to operate the "convenient self-service" photocopying machine without having to call for help. There will also be improvements to the "People’s Network" computer suite - (don't you hate the "people's" tag that's tied to everything these days? Another welcome benefit will be the introduction of more natural light, and we hope that the terrible strip lighting will at last be consigned to the bin. The staff counter will be removed, "leaving more space for new books" - although why we couldn't have had more new books years ago is anyone's guess. Boston Library has been a bleak source of new books for years - but we live in hope. And let's hope they can get ride of the smell.
That's all right then ... After the last full council meeting we quoted the question posed by County and Borough Councillor Ramonde Newell regarding the withdrawal of the warning flood sirens. He appeared to be very concerned that the sirens were on the way out, suggesting that their international language was really the only way to warn people of impending danger. Yet now he's written to the local press praising the replacement system to the skies and apparently associating himself with the changes he appeared to be unhappy with by signing himself as a County Councillor and Borough member for emergency planning. As far as we can see, Councillor Newell is merely repeating what he was told at the meeting. In the interest of everyone's safety, we hope that he will check it out in more detail as soon as possible. The idea of one politician believing what two others tells him beggars belief!
Plodding along ... We welcome the news that Lincolnshire's Chief Constable hopes to "put more officers on the beat" in Boston - even though we've heard it all before. But we confess to being a little nervous about the subtext that goes with the pledge. "The budget has not been set but we will be presenting plans for more uniformed officers in each division," says the Chief Con. Forgive us if we think that sounds a bit like " how much are you going to give us if you want some extra police for your borough?"
Smarmer of the week award goes to Target columnist George Wheatman for his item on the pressures of being a council leader. He makes it sound as though the criticism heaped on the heads of leaders past and present is somehow unjustified. Generally it is deserved - at least at the time. He also speculates that there will be jockeying for the leadership "if, come next spring there is a change of political complexion after the borough elections." If there is, we will be greatly surprised. The next borough elections are not until May 2011. We thought that George might have known this - or if not, someone else at the Target would have spotted the mistake. Or was it perhaps just wishful thinking?

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More bad news for Boston

The news that Donington has been earmarked as a possible home for a planned rail freight hub, which could attract £200m of investment and create up to 4,400 jobs, generates the usual sinking feeling that one gets whenever one reads about how our neighbours in South Holland seem to have all the good ideas while we in Boston have none at all.
The idea would dramatically change the way big food firms in the area operate, and sweep lorries off the roads and on to the railways.
It's an idea you'd think someone in Boston might have come up with, especially as combining a freight interchange with a port would be an ideal distribution scenario, and the idea of driving heavy lorries off our roads would do much to improve Boston's own dire traffic problems.
But no.
Once again it has been left to our neighbours to take the initiative and team up with a firm of transport specialists to pursue the project in more detail.
They're looking at the idea of an "International Food Park" for South Holland with Donington a strong favourite.
So near, yet so far.
Boston's life story over and over again in recent years.
We have seen the highly successful Springfields Retail Outlet go from strength to strength, now boasting many extra stores and even an hotel. And parking there is a fraction of what it costs in Boston.
So attractive is South Holland as a partner, that even Boston College have joined forces with them on a multi million pound food training centre.
For reasons we never fully understood, Boston Borough Council backed out of a three way partnership with South Holland and East Lindsey to combine back office services to save money and improve efficiency.
Now Boston seems to be floundering alone in trying to generate savings from external deals.
No wonder the Audit Commission couldn't find a good word to say for it.
Ironically the news comes at the same time as the recommendation that the ill-fated Boston Area Regeneration Company (BARC) be closed following a dismal three years during which the Audit Commission hit out at its "failures of governance."
Another white elephant bites the dust.

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Market was curate's egg

People often compare Boston Eye with the model Katie Price (aka Jordan) - saying that at the bottom line we're just big knockers.
And we're afraid that that's partly the case after our visit to the Boston Christmas Market.
But first, let's hear from one of our readers, Claire Eadie , who is a newcomer to the town.
"I was very disappointed to find the distinct absence of a 'Santa's Grotto' at the Christmas market on Sunday, as promised in the newspaper," she writes. "The whole thing was actually very half-hearted, I felt.
"Barely any advertising left me wondering whether they were planning to just see what they could organise on the day, and if something fell through then not many people would be disappointed.
"My three year old was saddened to find Santa missing from the celebrations, as he had been looking forward to it all week. Maybe Santa was lurking somewhere, but we couldn't find him, and when we asked a policeman handing out 'security in the community' leaflets, he had heard nothing of a Santa's grotto."
Frankly, whatever we thought about the market pales into insignificance beside a disappointed three year-old who was looking forward to meeting Father Christmas.
But our feelings as a whole were that it looked ok - superficially.
We also thought that it was better than we expected but not as good as it could have been.
Silly little things like market stalls branded "Bargate Green Market" let the atmosphere down, when half a dozen banners reading "Boston Christmas Market" could have been made for peanuts to cover them over.
We agree with Claire when she talks about the absence of pre-publicity.
Boston Eye's lament that Christmas was apparently passing the town by, was followed a day later by a press release from the Borough Council saying that Boston BID and the council were joining forces to stage a market.
Aside from that, a handful of laminated A4 notices tie-wrapped to the lamp posts in Strait Bargate was little short of pathetic.
Why doesn't the council invest a few hundred quid in a programmable scrolling LED display, which could be hung from the balcony of the Assembly Rooms to shout Boston's news to the town?
Answer: Not enough goes on to make it worth it.
And another problem that Boston BID should be addressing is hidden in the phrase in their announcement "the majority of shops will be open on Sunday."
If Boston really wants to draw shoppers, there must be uniformity - all of the shops opening, and all at the same time.
They can do it at the Springfields outlet in Spalding, so why can't we do it here?
Having said all that, for the first time the market stuck to a proper Christmas these.
We rate it as a good starter for ten - and hope for better next year.


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What the Audit Commission was too polite to say

Yesterday we published the Audit Commission "Oneplace" organisational assessment report on Boston Borough Council and made the point that we felt the Commission was trying desperately to find something to call positive to avoid total condemnation of the council.
Well is that the case or not?
We took a look between the lines to see what sort of interpretation could be drawn from the report.
It says the council performs poorly because of lack of leadership until very recently and a lack of capacity at a senior level.
This is clearly an attack on the Bypass Independents Party, who, after more than two and a half years in charge of the borough can no longer fall back on blaming the previous administration.
The appointment of Richard Harbord as acting Chief Executive has gone a long way to paper over the cracks, and whilst the lack of capacity at a senior level is partly being addressed, the fact that it has gone on for so long is again the fault of the BBI.
What about the criticism that "In recent years plans have not been completed when expected, there has been a track record of services not being planned properly and the needs of local people have not been taken into full consideration. Performance does not meet the Council's own targets, and the process for managing performance is not fully used or enforced. Unless capacity at a senior level is addressed and scrutiny is enhanced, further improvement will be difficult to achieve."
Again, what a desperate indictment of the BBI. An accusation of total failure to do the job for which it was elected.
The "scores" tell it all.
One out of four for Managing Performance, Use of Resources, Governing the Business and Managing Resources and just two out of four for Managing Finances.
At senior management level there is lack of capacity and resources to drive improvements forward, and staff feel they are not getting the leadership they need to support the direction the council is going in.
Again, what a dreadful picture of a floundering administration. Not only does it not care about the taxpayers it pledged to represent, but it treats its staff in the same cavalier manner.
And what improvements can the BBI boast about?
The Into Town bus service.
Really? Not if you see it as the ruination of the ambiance of Strait Bargate.
The government Swim4life initiative, ‘fit kids' programmes.
Walking groups to help residents get fitter.
The town centre clean up - done by local people who aren't the litterers, but concerned citizens doing the job the borough has failed to do for them.
And with no sense of irony, the Audit Commission adds: "Keeping it clean is now the challenge." That's a challenge that our eyes tell us has already been lost.
Improvements to the Market Place are mentioned which have improved occupancy.
But guess what - the market traders have taken over the running of the market stalls.
More and more, it seems that once the BBI abdicates responsibility for a particular task, things immediately improve.
Residents are "more satisfied" with the area as a place to live and believe the community is getting on better together - but Boston is still well below the national average.
The number of people who feel drink and drugs are an issue in open spaces has also reduced but are still at a level most residents would feel are unacceptable.
Council Leader Richard Austin has little room for manoeuvre in the fact of such damning criticism.
The best he can say is that it shows the council, working with other public authorities, is delivering against some of the area's priorities.
He goes on: "The organisational assessment, of which the council was already fully aware, makes it clear for residents the scale of the challenge we are dealing with and the need to improve."
So? - We were aware.
And we didn't do anything until we were pushed.
Councillor Austin says he's confident that next year's report "will show the improvement our residents expect and deserve."
The Audit Commission can't say it, but we can.
If Boston was company and the BBI its board of directors, the shareholders would be baying for their collective resignation.
Boston isn't a company - but even so, this louche, lacklustre bunch of amateurs should have the decency to quit now, and hand the job over to people who can do it.

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The no good ... the bad ... and the ugly

The Audit Commission "Oneplace" organisational assessment report on Boston Borough Council came out last week, and before its publication, we thought that the best way we might simplify it would be to split it up along the lines of the movie title "The good ... the Bad ... and the Ugly."
Unfortunately. as is so often the case with Boston, the list doesn't have anything you could put in the file marked good, so here we go with Boston Borough Council - the Bad and the Ugly.
The report says the council performs poorly because of lack of leadership until very recently and a lack of capacity at a senior level. In recent years plans have not been completed when expected, there has been a track record of services not being planned properly and the needs of local people have not been taken into full consideration. Performance does not meet the Council's own targets and the process for managing performance is not fully used or enforced. Unless capacity at a senior level is addressed and scrutiny is enhanced, further improvement will be difficult to achieve.
The council scores one out of four for Managing Performance, Use of Resources, Governing the Business and Managing Resources. It only bounces off the bottom with its rating for managing finances - with a stonking two out of four.
At senior management level there is lack of capacity and resources to drive improvements forward, and staff feel they are not getting the leadership they need to support the direction the council is going in.
But the report says the council has recognised major improvements are needed and has set up an Improvement Board to help with what it needs to do.
Areas of improvement include the Into Town bus services. Other schemes such as the government Swim4life initiative, ‘fit kids' programmes, and walking groups are giving residents the opportunity to get fitter. More plans to offer a healthier lifestyle such as healthy eating campaigns are being made.
The town centre has undergone a big clean up involving local groups and residents. Keeping it clean is now the challenge.
Improvements to the market place have resulted in occupancy going up and market traders taking over the running of the market stalls.
While residents are more satisfied with the area as a place to live and believe the community is getting on better together, Boston is still well below the national average. The number of people who feel drink and drugs are an issue in open spaces has also reduced but are still at a level most residents would feel are unacceptable.
It's all pretty bleak, really, and we get the feeling that the Audit Commission is trying desperately to find something to brand as positive to avoid total condemnation of the council.
Whilst we thought the best thing to do would be to step aside and let someone else take on the council's leadership, Richard Austin has managed to find light at the end of the tunnel as you might expect.
"I'm glad to say it does show that the council, working with other public authorities, is delivering against some of the areas' priorities - namely improving transport, decreasing traffic congestion and improving health.
"The organisational assessment, of which the council was already fully aware, makes it clear for residents the scale of the challenge we are dealing with and the need to improve.
"We are in the process of delivering an improved council and changing the culture of the authority. It is my belief that by working with a voluntary Improvement Board we will improve the value for money the council provides for residents and improve the council's performance quickly and effectively.
"I'm confident that our organisational assessment in 12 months' time will show the improvement our residents expect and deserve."
You can read the report for yourself by following the link here
But pour yourself a stiff drink first.

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Week ending 11th December ...

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
Why the Secret Squirrel mentality ... The news that the Borough's Acting Chief Executive is to have his tenure extended until October next year is another of those items surrounded in unnecessary secrecy. The decision was taken at the Full Council meeting on November 9th, after a paper entitled "Management Structure" was considered in secret, and was not announced for a month afterwards. Did such secrecy imply a lack of confidence that the appointment would be extended thus making a debate necessary? Of course not. Richard Harbord was a popular choice back in August, and unless lightning strikes twice in the same place, there was no reason to assume that he was doing anything other than a good job. So why the secrecy? We think it's just because councillors like the idea of intrigue. - and that perhaps its time they grew out of it. Incidentally, the last we heard from the ACE was on the day he started work. Any chance of a proclamation on how things are going four months in?
Blogged down in the mire ... Blogging by our elected members seems to have hit something of a fallow period recently, but we hope that those councillors who do will start writing more (and more often) again soon. The Leader's brief attempt at blogging on the council's webpage has been replaced by an ad hoc "Message" which is now a month out of date, and there is no news on whether he will start a personal blog at some point. However, this is all an improvement on the almost forgotten Lib Dem hopeful Mike Sheridan-Shinn, whose "vote for me" blog still promises the launch of phase two of the Boston North West by-election campaign last October which "is very exciting and I know my supporters will like it."
Higher politics - 1 ... Boston Lib Dem MEP Bill Newton-Dunn was more than happy to snuggle up to Sir Paul McCartney when he visited the European Parliament to present his argument for a Meat-Free Monday, which asks everyone to go vegetarian for one day a week. The MP who turned his back on the Tories when he thought William Hague hadn't got a chance obviously feel that sucking up to Macca is a good source of brownie points ... but we doubt it will win him any votes.
Higher politics -2 ... We think that whoever produces the occasional newsletter put out by our MP Mark Simmonds should take a look at pictures before captioning them. "Mark presents a donation to staff at St Barnabas Hospice" shows him loafing up against a sign. "Mark helps local farmers with the pea harvest..." shows him standing as a lord-of-all-he-surveys from the balcony on a pea viner, whilst "Mark tours local businesses ..." shows him standing around in ASDA - that famous local business. Almost every caption tells a story that the photo doesn't. Perhaps its an innate habit among politicians.
Dig this ... We had to smile at a report to next week's borough cabinet recommending spending £25,000 on infrastructure works at Cuckoo Land to turn it into allotments. Among the reasons given are to cater for unmet demand from local allotment holders, to promote "grow your own" and physical activity as part of the healthy lifestyles agenda, to promote the growing of local produce to reduce “food miles” and carbon emissions and to encourage a sense of belonging and pride. We wonder what the allotment holders evicted from Broadfield Lane might have to say about that - especially as they were thrown out with such indecent haste to make way for housing developments that now seem unlikely to take place.
Lookalike of the week ... Earlier this week we reported on last Friday's County Council meeting (which is more than our local papers did.) A propos of nothing at all we noticed a remarkable resemblance between the Highways supremo Councillor William Webb, and Mr Jolliman, who models clothing for gentlemen of a certain age. What do you think?

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New attack on Strait Bargate "to fight crime"

A reader took us to task the other day after our piece in which we criticised what we thought was the sledgehammer approach to policing in Boston in the run-up to Christmas .
"Whilst I agree with your opinions and articles 99% of the time," he wrote, "all I hear from people, almost daily is we don't see enough police in Boston. I would be interested to listen to what people say leading up to Xmas about the high visibility policing in Boston. There are many times I try to do my job as a citizen reporting groups of drunks in the park or in alleyways, etc, to the police. Half an hour later I walk or drive past and nothing has been done. So, personally I'm in favour if indeed all it does is send out a message of zero tolerance."
We replied saying that we were actually singing from the same hymn sheet. "Our constant complaint is also the absence of officers on the street.
What we're saying here is that the police response to Christmas is disproportionate, and treats ordinary folk as potential criminals. What the police are doing is making the traditional seasonal noises expected of them at this time of year. It's largely a PR stunt in our view. It the same with homeless people - we only ever hear about their
plight at Christmas. The question we asked at the end of the piece is the key. If the cops can muster all this visibility for two weeks of the year, why can't they do it the rest of the time?"
We stand by this. In fact we feel that that the police have underlined their often quirky approach to crime prevention in recent days.
Under the headline "Police determined to combat criminals this Christmas," the Boston Standard told us: ""Badger Bill has been out and about helping to promote
Boston Police's new safer Christmas shopping campaign. PCSO Paul Lote donned the badger outfit to help draw attention to shoppers in Asda to the help and advice that was given for the festive period."
So for "combating criminals," read "dressing up as a giant badger."
It's obvious when you think about it, isn't it?
And pity poor Strait Bargate.
After the news that CCTV cameras in Boston have helped the police to make 709 arrests in the past 12 months, we're told that to ensure a good level of coverage a number of trees will be pruned in Strait Bargate, which will improve the line of sight for CCTV cameras.
First the Into Town buses render the shopping centre hostile to shoppers.
Now attractive trees are to be mutilated to make life easier for our deskbound bobbies.
Whatever your view on crime prevention, surely, you must agree that this is a step too far.
We think it's time to argue the case against policing by cliche, and ask Boston's invisible (for most of the year) force to do what everyone wants them to do ....
Does it not occur to them that what people want to see is an increased street presence?

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PS We haven't forgotten the Audit Commission's "Oneplace" report on Boston. Check out our blog on Monday.

What they asked - and what they were told

Yesterday we gave you the highlights from last Friday's Lincolnshire County Council meeting.
Today, we give you the local questions word for word, so you can see which of our County Councillors have taken the time to raise Boston issues in a way that the entire county representation can hear.
And you can hear the answers as well and see how the people who hold the keys to Boston's future regard our humble borough.
First came a question for the county's highways supremo Councillor William Webb , who was asked by Councillor Raymond Singleton-McGuire:-
"In light of the recent articles in the Boston papers by the Bypass Party, Councillors Ray Newell and Richard Austin, could Councillor Webb please explain why has LCC actually failed to honour its statutory and legal highway commitments to Boston, which Councillor Newell claims in his article to be the largest town in the county, with the road infrastructure that a sub regional centre requires. Could also any light be thrown on claims by Councillor Newell that Lincolnshire County Council actually apparently grabbed nearly 80% of the council tax that Boston council taxpayers contribute, which indeed, apparently over thirty years he claims could have built ten bypasses - I think we actually only need one.
"Councillor Webb, could you please identify also where the second bypass is that Councillor Newell refers to in Spalding in his article, and also a bypass for Stamford in fact Councillor Richard Austin informs me through the local paper that it is not the LDF (Local Development Framework) or his administration which is holding up the bypass for Boston - apparently this information is incompetent and naive it is the coastal st... (interruption) the coastal strategy ... (Chairman interrupts whoever is interrupting) Are these claims true, and if so what is Lincolnshire Council doing to progress the long awaited Boston Bypass?"
Councillor William Webb replied: "Deep down I think this question is actually asking how are road schemes funded? And in fact there are three main mechanisms. One is through the regional funding allocation, the second one is through growth points and the third point, part is through private investment. Let me talk immediately about Boston and say that a distributor road for Boston is int, int, integrally linked to land allocation through the immersion, emerging, local development framework and the transport strategy funding allocation was reviewed in 2009 and funding was reassigned to release £300,000 to assist Boston Borough Council to progress their local development framework to include a distributor road. That I think answers the first part of the question. Secondly as far as council tax is concerned only a very small proportion of the council tax collected actually goes towards highways - don't quote me on this, (!!) but I believe it's as low as six per cent of the pot that we collect of that actually goes towards maintenance of making sure that the roads themselves are maintained and the street lights have electricity to them erm but the point is that the rest of the council tax funding goes towards the provision of children's services, adult social care, fire and rescue service, waste disposal, library services etc. Highways only gets an infi, infinitesimal part of the council tax collected by the boroughs and districts. On the third point apparently we have bypasses springing up all over the county .... well I can tell you that this is not the case. We are working at the moment on a bypass for the eastern part of Lincoln. That will be funded from the regional allocation. we are also looking at a further scheme, it has to be said in Spalding, but this will be entirely on the back of large developments from the point of view of housing and also industrial development in Spalding - and it will be funded by that mechanism. As far as bypasses for other places, I've heard Stamford mentioned, (but) I can assure you at the moment that is no more than aspirational.
The second question concerning Boston came from Councillor Ramonde Newell, who sensibly used notes this time rather than last time's extempore speech, which caused some hilarity at the time.
He asked: "Will the risk to the people of Boston be increased, and their protection reduced with the removal of the flood warning sirens in Boston? The sirens protect the people of Boston 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. The sirens have a warning in all languages. The sirens have successfully warned of danger for very many years. Those at particular risk are children, the elderly, those with a disability or a mobility problem, the sick and the thousands upon thousands of foreign nationals in Boston. They, I understand speak 64 languages. I only know, personally one flood warden in Boston -- hundreds will be needed. Is this council guaranteeing to continue to warn and to protect all the people of Boston?"
A reply came from Councillor Eddie Poll, Executive Councillor for Economic Development, and although we promised word for word coverage, there was so much waffle, that we are forced to summarise.
The core of his response was to say: "The removal of the sirens in Boston is not as disastrous as Councillor Newell suggests that it could be. The flood warning system along the entire east coast is very old, very hit and miss . Nothing in new developments. If you happen to be sat in your house watching your foreign language TV programme because you're miles away from home, the chances of your being able to hear the sirens are very remote. The Environment Agency flood warning system will require people to sign up to the alerts but now it will require people to "sign out" I think this is a vast improvement to public safety. I don't see this as a downgrade. I see this as a vast improvement of everybody in Lincolnshire."
And, apropos of nothing in particular, Councillor Poll harked back to Councillor Singleton-McGuire's earlier questions.
"I have to say that the comments from the question to Councillor Webb about Boston quite struck me that there were certain parallels with Rome - in that, yeah, all roads allegedly lead to Rome - and I think that Boston thinks that all roads lead to Boston. I couldn't but help but extend that parallel a bit further and see that the current administration kinda reminds me of Emperor Nero"
Thanks for taking the trouble to turn up Eddie!


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Twin Rays spotlight Boston's plight

We're not big fans of reality TV - but Friday's live webcast of Lincolnshire County Council's December meeting was in a class all of its own.
There was a grim magnetism that glued your eyes to the computer screen as the councillors lurched through the agenda.
More worrying is how poorly some of the more senior members performed, and what a fragile grip some of them seem to have on language and presentation.
But what we were looking for was evidence that Boston's name is being pushed to the fore.
Boston has seven councillors, and at the last meeting just one of them spoke.
The latest meeting saw twin Rays of Sunshine, in the form of the unlikely duo of Councillors Raymond Singleton-McGuire and Ray Newell.
Councillor Singleton-McGuire raised a question with the County Council's Executive member for highways, William Webb about a bypass for Boston, during which he seemed to be interrupted by an invisible and anonymous heckler in the early stages. The tone of the question was more critical of Boston Borough Council's leadership rather than Lincolnshire County Council, and underlined the communication difficulties which have hogtied relations between the BBI and opposition parties. By the sound of things, it appears that more information is passed from the rulers to their fellow councillors through the letters pages of the local papers than in the council chamber.
Unfortunately, this opened a window of opportunity to field the question by way of a statement of the qualification protocol before a town gets a chance to get a foot on the first rung of the bypass ladder. But at least the opportunity was taken and the point made.
When his turn came, Councillor Newell bemoaned the withdrawal of the flood warning sirens and painted an Armageddon-like scenario of Bostonians of all nations being washed out to sea - stressing that the sirens speak in all of the sixty some odd tongues that it's now claimed comprise polyglot Boston. He was told he was over reacting and that the new system would be a grand improvement on the old one.
The only other mention of Boston came in an answer from Eddie Poll, Executive Councillor for Economic Development, and Conservative member for Spalding East and Moulton, whose photo on the county council's website shows a slightly rakish figure with designer stubble and a gold hoop earring in his left ear.
Referring back to Councillor Singleton-McGuire's question, he said: "I have to say that the comments from the question to Councillor Webb about Boston quite struck me that there were certain parallels with Rome in that yeah, all roads allegedly lead to Rome - and I think that Boston thinks that all roads lead to Boston. I couldn't but help but extend that parallel a bit further and see that the current administration kinda reminds me of Emperor Nero."
For those non-historians among our readers, Nero's rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance while the emperor himself "fiddled while Rome burned."
So, out of seven councillors from Boston (assuming they were all there) just two asked questions. Given that a third, Andrea Jenkyns, was being welcomed back into the fold on that day, whilst a fourth, Peter Bedford, is Vice Chairman and therefore somewhat limited in his ability to grab the floor, that still leaves three other councillors unheard from over two meetings.
Boston admittedly has a lot of problems and special needs - many of which can be remedied by Lincolnshire County Council - but how can we expect to have a voice when our representatives remain mute?

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Christmas is coming after all!!

On December 2nd we mourned the fact that Christmas looked like passing Boston by.
But the very next day an unexpected burst of bonhomie broke out in the form of a press release issued by Boston Borough Council, and headed: "CHRISTMAS MARKET TO BRING GOOD CHEER."
It goes on:-
"Boston BID has worked with officers from the Borough Council to deliver this year’s Christmas Market, which will be held on Sunday 13 December between 09.30 am and 4.30 pm.
"On the day there will be a traditional Christmas Market in the Market Place offering a varied selection of Christmas fayre. The Assembly Rooms will also be packed with craft stalls where you can pick up that special Christmas gift. Throughout the day there will be on stage entertainment provided by a variety of local acts and there will be additional attractions for the children including fair ground rides and santa’s grotto.
Steam engines from Boston Steam Rally will present both a static and moveable display of vintage engines, which will provide some real atmosphere in the Market Place.
"At 11am the Market Place will be home to 300 Santas taking part in this years Santa Fun run arranged by Boston United Football Club.
"The Christmas Market opens at 9.30 am and promises to be a great day out for all of the family.
"Councillor Richard Dungworth, portfolio holder for Regeneration, Planning, Sport and Cultural Services, said: 'The Christmas Markets bring something special to Boston, and we would like to extend an invitation to everyone to come along and enjoy the festivities'
"Following on from the traditional Christmas Market and maintaining the Christmas spirit, Boston will host a French Continental Market in the area around the Ingram Memorial between the 17th and19th December. The Market will sell a large selection of French wines and food in addition to clothing and gifts.
"To add to the Christmas atmosphere the Stump has arranged a Christingle Service, which will take place in the Church from 4pm on Saturday 19th December.
"The week, starting with the Christmas Market on the 13th and ending with the French Continental Market and Christingle Service on the 19th promises to provide a truly festive feel for residents and visitors to Boston."
What a relief, but what a shame the announcement has been left until such a late stage. And neither Boston Borough Council or Boston BID still has no mention of the event on it's website
By the time it hits the local papers on Wednesday there will be less than a week to go, and at this busy time of year, we've no doubt that many people may wll have planned to visit somewhere other than Boston.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Week ending 4th December

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
Thin end of wedge ... ? A week ago today one of our readers was somewhat startled to see a police BMW estate car cruising through Strait Bargate with occupants smiling "smugly" out at the afternoon shoppers. Our views on buses using the precinct are well known and shared by many others. We just hope that our less than athletic police don't view the fact that buses can treat shoppers like sheep means that they can follow suit. Let's hope this isn't the thin end of the wedge...
Wasted spaces ... With Christmas around the corner, parking in Boston is at a premium. This has prompted a reader to ask what's happening about the 50 space car park offering a day's parking for just £2 that was promised for the former Regal Centre site back in March. Bulldozers were scheduled to move in by June - but here we are in December ... still waiting. Any ideas?
Let's get it right ... A sharp-eyed reader with more patience that we have has read all through the requirements for the borough's proposed Director of Resources. On page six under Main Duties and Responsibilities, Item 11., the blurb for the £87,500 a year job says "Statutory s151 officer. There is a legal requirement for a professional accounting qualification." Yet on page 12 under the Person Specification, an accounting qualification is listed as merely "desirable." For a job as big as this, we fervently hope that someone has made a mistake.
Why didn't we get this ...?As the county council strives to bus Bostonians to Lincoln and Spalding to do their Christmas shopping, we understand that work is scheduled to start on a project that South Holland District Council expects to attract shoppers and investment. The £6m food centre on a derelict area Red Lion Street in Spalding will include shops for local produce, teaching areas with catering facilities and office space. About 30 jobs will be created by the project which is funded by SHDC, Lincolnshire County Council, the East Midlands Development Agency and .... Boston College. Thanks a bunch.
Missing mugshots ... Have there been some staff reductions at the Boston Standard? We only ask because a couple of familiar faces are missing from the Rogue's Gallery which appears in the paper every week.
Who ya gonna call ...? We join the sceptics who think that claims of ghostly goings-on at the town's Guildhall are just so much stuff and nonsense. If there are any spooks around, we suspect that they will be of former occupants rattling their chains at the sterile modernisation of the once characterful building and the ghastly (rather than ghostly) soundtrack that now ruins a visitor's chance to enjoy a trip around.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

A sledgehammer to crack a nut

Yesterday we remarked about what a dismal Christmas was on the cards in Boston.
But just in case you're still thinking of celebrating, the powers that be have plans for you.
Using the claim that Christmas shopping will be "safer than ever," Boston's Neighbourhood Policing Team, Boston Borough Council and local businesses are launching a "safer shopping" campaign over the Christmas period.
Whilst the laudable aim is to prevent opportunistic crimes such as theft, vehicle crime, burglaries and shop lifting it will mean increased high visibility patrols around the town centre at weekends and on late-night shopping nights.
And if PCs, PCSO's Special Constables and Town Rangers weren't enough Lincolnshire's Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership is providing "street wardens" to provide high visibility patrols and Boston 's Neighbourhood Policing Team is holding four crime prevention sessions on the run up to Christmas.
One of the constant complaints of the sledgehammer to crack a nut approach to crime prevention it that it increases the fear of crime to a point where it is greater that the threat of the real thing.
Then there is the issuing of "alcohol strips" to officers patrolling the town.
The idea of this seems to be to stigmatise Boston's young people by assuming that all teenagers toting a drink can are using it to conceal alcohol, but that they won't get away with it because the alcohol strip will find them out.
"We know that there are young people who use soft drinks containers to disguise the true identity of an alcoholic drink," said Boston Police's licensing officer.
"If the drink is vodka-based, such as the alcopop products, it is very difficult to prove the contents. Any drink in a coloured container isn't easy to identify unless it has a strong smell, such as wine, beer or cider. The alcohol strip will confirm the contents in just two minutes."
The iron fist in the iron glove approach means that underage youngsters found consuming alcohol will have their details taken and their parents contacted and a police officer making a personal visit to their parents.
When we were boys and girls, a nip or two at Christmastime was a rite of passage.
Now it seems to be the first step on the road to a criminal record when more often than not, no serious offence has been committed.
Of course we don't want to see the streets of Boston teeming with pickpockets and footpads. Nor do we wish to see the town's streets reeling with drunken youngsters - or adults for that matter.
But there is no real evidence that this has ever happened in the past, and to swamp the town with police, and treat every shopper as a potential thief seem to us to be over-egging the Christmas pudding.
This sort of policing is just too much.
Bostonians in general are decent, law abiding people - whatever their age - and should be treated as such.
Oh. One final question.
Where do the police go and what do they do for the other eleven and a half months of the year?

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Yo Ho ... Oh No!

The other day, someone asked us what was going on in Boston at Christmas.
To be honest, we were stuck for an answer, and decided to take a look around and see what we could find out.
Our starter for ten was the assumption that there would be no Continental Christmas Market this year, because it was driven away last year by unacceptable proposals to locate it out of the way of the sainted Into Town bus service - which effectively meant locating it somewhere where no-one would want to visit it.
We seemed to recall that Boston BID was seeking support for a Christmas Market earlier in the year.
We remember because there was criticism in the local papers back in August that as is so often the case the event was going to ignore the existence of West Street.
Now, though, the event seems to have disappeared from the BID calendar altogether - at least there is nothing about it on the organisation's website, and earlier references to the lack of enthusiasm for the idea seem to have vanished.
A search of Lincolnshire County Council's website finds the combination of the words Christmas and Boston conspicuous by their absence.
Boston Borough Council's website has no reference to any sort of Christmas Market plans, and it's what's on pages also suggest a bleak midwinter on the market cards.
A look at the Boston Standard's What's on internet feature finds it mired in the past rather than looking ahead to the festive season (click on the picture below to enlarge.)
The Target's feature, whilst up to date, has nothing of a Christmassy nature at all in December.
So if you want to celebrate Christmas this year, we suggest you board one of the extra buses laid on by Lincolnshire County Council specifically to take Bostonians to Lincoln or Spalding about which they bragged when it was announced back in October “These new Sunday services will provide improved access for shopping, especially during Christmas and the sales ....."
Yo, ho, no ....
Is Boston celebrating this year .... if you know, please let us know.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Time to clean up town's bleak image

If we were trying to put together an image of Boston from the jigsaw puzzle of items about it that have appeared in the news in the past few weeks alone, the picture on the box would be very bleak indeed.
Males in and around Boston have the lowest male life expectancy at birth in the county, and whilst females can expect a further five years, it is still the third lowest life expectancy in the county.
Unemployment rose by three per cent in and around Boston last month.
We're the area most at risk from flooding, with the forecast for even worse times ahead - and the County Council plans to withdraw the warning siren service.
Boston is one of only five local authorities where women have no choice between the three options of home birth with a midwife, a local birth centre or an obstetric unit in a hospital.
Anti-social behaviour is on the rise, despite promises to curb it.
United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, which includes the Pilgrim Hospital, is second on a "roll call of tragedy" published in a national paper with 226 "needless" deaths.
The by-pass which everyone wanted, and which the BBI promised with such confidence, is now at least ten years away, but with the greater liklihood that it will never come to pass.
The town has inflicted itself with a bad image through the unnecessary imposition of designated public places orders which suggest that - without them - we would have a serious public problem with alcohol.
And with Christmas just around the corner, the crowds in Strait Bargate are to be herded like cattle by buses that no-one wants to see in their town centre.
That's just for starters.
What is going wrong with Boston?
We need some thinking people to come up with some sensible answers.
The town's image needs a makeover.
We need an image Czar - and not just a couple of tourism press releases.
And soon.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.