Cunning plan? We don't think so, Baldrick

Those of us who've lived in Boston for longer than we care to remember often find ourselves asking the question "when did it all start to go so wrong."
Granted, there was a time thirty and more years ago that Boston was regarded as mad, bad and dangerous to know by people from other parts of Lincolnshire. We well recall the case of a policeman promoted from his billet in Grantham to a high rank in Boston declaring that he'd rather have forgone the extra power and pay to stay put.
But times have changed, and, generally speaking, Lincolnshire is much the same wherever you live - though we have to say that it suffers a declining quality of life rather than the reverse.
The reason for this musing is that we have been looking at the report before tonight's full council meeting ... one of the few times when elected members of the BBI - the Bully Boy Infantry - get a chance to speak and vote on the running of the borough.
The report asks the council to approve a "corporate plan" for the year ahead - although in reality it contains nothing new, and since the BBI has been in power has been an annual restatement of a plan that never seems to get any further.
It offers nine (or eight really) priorities for the year ahead which are:
1) Focusing on "local place-shaping" to strengthen relations between different parts of the community.
2) Improving the health and well-being of target groups in the community.
3) Easing traffic congestion in the town by seeking improvements to our road infrastructure, continuing to work towards the provision of a distributor road and promoting alternative means of getting around.
4) Sustaining the local economy and boosting local job prospects, by enhancing the town centre, making the most of our built and historic heritage, and continuing to work with partners to develop our enterprise culture.
5) Improving recycling rates.
6) Tackling crime and the fear of crime
7) Increasing availability of affordable housing and decent homes, reducing homelessness and supporting people to live independently.
8) Working with partners to manage and plan for climate change and flood risk issues that face the borough, while ensuring that Boston maintains its place as a thriving and sustainable sub regional centre.
9) but not numbered as such is improving performance and ensuring the financial stability of the council - because it enables the delivery of the eight other priorities.
Interesting though these aims and objectives are, when looked at more closely, it is quite clear that a number of them have been artificially created, as they are not in fact duties or responsibilities of a district authority.
Number 1 - ok ... though we're uncertain about "local place shaping," as focusing on localness works more to emphasis the differences with non locals.
2) Is the job of the multifarious health organisations.
3) Is little more than lobbying, as the borough has no say in highway matters. And what happened to any mention of a bypass?
4) Enhancing the town centre plays no role in boosting job prospects. Apart from the Stump and the Guildhall (which has been ruined) we have no other historic heritage, and our built heritage (such as it is) is not worth writing home about.
5) Important, yes. But important enough to rate a place in a "Corporate Plan? Surely not.
6) Is the job of the police.
7) Would have been a lot easier if the borough housing stock hadn't been flogged off.
8) Again merely a peripheral, lobbying role. And sadly, we feel that Boston long ago relinquished its place as a thriving and sustainable sub regional centre.
9) An opportunity already twice missed, Small increases in council tax last year and this would have been painless and could have paved the way to provide the thick end of another £100,000 for the borough's coffers by now. Instead, the BBI chose to look like local heroes in yet another of their triumphs of style over substance.
What this "Corporate Plan" really underlines is just how little importance district authorities have have in the real life of the local people.

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