Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
That ‘W’ word ... It seems that we were pulling the wrong leg when we took the mickey out of council leader Richard Austin over the naming of our part of the world as “Waterland.” Although he claims authorship of the entire piece in question it appears that just this one specific word was coined by a member of the borough’s communications team. Apparently the inspiration was the novel "Waterland" by Graham Swift. The title referred to its setting in the East Anglian fens. It was filmed with Jeremy Irons a few years ago partly at Shep White's - an area of sea bank and marshland near Fosdyke. Call us mischievous if you like, but we have to wonder whether someone else might also have coined the word “Mayfair” in place of the historically more accurate and traditional “May Fair” as we thought Councillor Austin would surely know the correct version.
Money matters - 1 ... We note that in the last quarter the borough’s Fraud Investigation Team has nailed three wrongdoers - two of whom tried to fiddle around £2,000 between them, and one who had a secret savings account. Whilst we deplore the actions of anyone who breaks the law in this way, we have to ask whether a “team” which averages one success a month ought to be nominated as a service to merge or privatise and therefore save money. Extrapolating the figures, we’re looking at saving the borough less than £10,000 a year at a cost of what? £50,000 at least, we suspect.
Money matters - 2 ... Given the figures on uncollected council tax, we think a team would be better employed on chasing what is now a highly important sum of money. Boston is 12th in the East Midlands Top 40 of councils with almost two million in uncollected taxes. In these straitened times a sum like that could go a long way. Let’s hope someone is taking note.
Self-supporting ... We were right on the money when we predicted another whitewash for Boston Business Improvement District in the local papers. After last week’s Target piece, the follow up in the Standard is by Simon Beardsley of Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce - ironically the man tasked with collecting criticisms of the BID from members - which we had hoped would have included keeping an open mind. A key point he makes in his piece is that the BID aims to raise £500,000 in as many years “and there is little hope that this will be found elsewhere.” What he neglects to point out is that the bulk of this £500k will be spent on the wages of the BID manager and his three Town Rangers, plus the BID’s office and admin costs. If it didn’t exist, no-one would notice the difference - except in their business bottom line.
Dig this 1 ... “Welcome to paradise” trumpets the headline in the latest Boston borough council bulletin extolling the delights of the newly created Cuckoo Land allotment site. Paradise for those Wyberton electors who now enjoy the site. We wonder how the former tenants of the Broadfield Lane allotments feel about it. New readers may not remember that the council evicted scores of them from a site that had existed in the centre of town for almost a century so that a greedy local charity could flog the plots at a colossal profit to developers. That was three years ago, since when no building application request has been received. One law for the rich and one for the poor here, wethinks.
Dig this 2 ...A reader wryly questions the entertainment value of the open day advertised in the flyer pictured below...

He adds: “It looks like we have found the replacement for party in the park. This should have the crowds flocking in! My only worry is that the two food stalls are being run by the two premises in West Street that have recently been in the press for having unruly behaviour and threats to have their licences removed. Its the wife's birthday that day. Well that's her present sorted- let's go pick a plot!”

On the fiddle ... Like Nero plucking off while Rome burns, we note that the Boston Bypass Independents’ blog is speculating about gaining at least one seat from the Tories after next year’s local elections. We especially like the final line of the piece. “Boston must come first, even before Party.” Amazing! That the BBI has taken so long to realise the fact!

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

We’re heading into that fallow time of year when Boston and its council slip into a fugue state - so we thought that we would join in and take some time off. We’re not going away, so please keep in touch. We will be blogging as and when the need arises, so please keep checking in. At the very latest we will be back on Monday 16th August.

Borough slammed for conserving neglect

Last year we noted the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Boston 's Conservation Area - which when studied in detail is mostly a mish-mash of historically important buildings isolated  at scores of locations within the town among the general mess known as Boston.
We also reported that when English Heritage conducted a national survey of conservation areas, Boston Borough Council couldn't be bothered to fill it in.
Sadly it seems that nothing much has changed.
Boston has another interesting distinction to add to its quiver of blunt arrows in that not only individual buildings are listed as being at risk this year - but the entire conservation area is similarly regarded as being under threat.



It is a disgraceful state of affairs when an entire area is now under threat.
But is par for the course.
All that seems to have happened recently on the conservation front in Boston is that the borough council has managed to lose a small fortune in ratepayers’ money on 116 High Street Boston and has now handed it over to Heritage Lincolnshire who plan to “bring it back into use for the local community” - something that has not always the case with other of the group’s projects.
However, we are disappointed that once again, the BBI can talk the talk, but when it comes to walking the walk it is - as usual - found wanting.
Boston does have a lot of commendable architecture - not of the quality that many of the great and the good who compare the town with the likes of York would like us to think - and to let it decline not merely day-by-day, but as we are now seeing, year-by-year is a disgraceful piece of negligence.

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Borough's big BIDness

The figures just keep getting bigger and bigger.
From initially claiming that it did not bill the Boston Business Improvement District (Boston BID) for the services it provides, Boston Borough Council has now admitted that it has so far charged the BID almost £7,000 for services rendered between December 2008 and March this year.
No wonder the borough’s finances seem so confused and confusing.
The figures were provided at Monday’s council meeting after a question from local accountant Darron Abbott who is leading criticism of the way the BID operates and the value for money it offers - in this case money “earned” from a compulsory levy made on every business in the BID area regardless of whether they wish to be members or not.
It appears that the idea of simply winding up the BID because it doesn’t do what it says on the tin is anathema to the great and the good on the council and in the Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce who are the overall governors of the scheme.
Overwhelming demands for its closure at its annual meeting were brushed aside by the chamber, which alone can take the decision - members aren't allowed the important votes - and the BID’s manager, Niall Armstrong, seems not to have uttered a word since the rebellion began.
Everywhere you turn, someone is trying to justify the BID.
Prominent in last week’s Boston Target was a list of all the positive things it has done - and a similar whitewash is promised in today's Boston Standard.
They included mention that the Town Rangers had “assisted” with 189 arrests - which we calculate equates to almost £400 per incident.
Street cleaning and litter picking. BID members were promised that their levy would not be used for services which are already paid for elsewhere.
Community HUB - “bringing two redundant shops back into use.” and shop front graphics to brighten up empty shop fronts. Aside from the fact that so far we have seen none of these graphics. Both of these projects are funded by a government grant to Boston Borough Council. The fact that the council is too idle to do the job it was told to do and farmed it out to Boston BID, does not make it a BID achievement.So far the job is only half done and way behind schedule.
Town directory. Where is it?
Boston BID is a demonstrable failure and an unfair and unwanted tax on already hard-pressed local traders.
Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce should be big enough to acknowledge that it has failed and allow it to be wound up, as its members wish - not to cling on arrogantly and enforce it simply because they can.

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The good ship Boston - the view from the Harbord side

There are, as they say, two sides to every story. Yesterday we reported on the Council Leader's comments in the foreword to the borough’s annual report.
Aside from a hint of no jam tomorrow, the leader was so gung ho about the council’s achievements that you could have canned it and sold it.
However, the next page of the report - from Interim Chief Executive Richard Harbord took a less sanguine view.
Under the heading “Immense change and more to come,” he warned that the immense change that there has been in  Boston will continue “without abatement” - thus extending the meteorological metaphors adopted by his leader.
We were reminded that the Audit Commission branded Boston’s performance as “unacceptably poor” - which apparently had more to do with the fact that Boston had become complacent about its systems and procedures and as the national measures of these things moved Boston failed to move with them.
The authority had failed to take the necessary steps to retain its “adequate” rating - although we would have preferred to have heard that it had been striving for a “good” assessment.
That led to changes in management of the authority and to the appointment of an external Improvement Board to ensure that the necessary steps were taken to secure continuous improvement.
We’re interested in this Improvement Board. We hear much about it, but know nothing of its operation.
Perhaps our “open and transparent” borough might like to tell us more about how it is cleaning up its act - but somehow we feel that hell will freeze over before this happens.
A good for instance of this is tomorrow’s additional meeting of the cabinet, at which the only item listed - a report by Mr Harbord entitled “Transformation” - is being discussed in secret.
The council now faces cost cutting to the order of 25% over the next four years, and it will be interesting to see where the axe will fall.
News of the much vaunted healthy eating cafe has been conspicuous by its absence of late - not that there was ever much of it because again for some bizarre reason it has always been discussed in secret.
Where are the window stickers which we were promised would camouflage our plethora of unsightly empty shops in Boston?
And what about the refurbishment of the Market Place? Again, the sound of silence is deafening.
Expect more of the same in the years to come.

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Good scout Richard says "be prepared"

Tonight’s “special” meeting of Boston Borough Council considers the annual report of the council’s activities, with a foreword from Boston Bypass Independent supremo and Council Leader Richard “Papa Dick” Austin.
Riding hard on the heels of his successful creation of the “Boston Experience”, which places us at the heart of the mythical “Waterland*”, this time the leader has come up with another fabulous creation - which for want of a better word, we shall call “Waffleland.”
“Waffleland” is not a stall that one might expect to find at the May Fair, but rather an over-eggy pudding which looks back on 2009/10 as a year of achievement “despite grey clouds gathering on the horizon,” and “the year when we made the best of preparations to deal with the storms ahead.”
Nautical but nice as they say ... and Councillor Austin goes on:
“I celebrate a year when the council began to turn around its performance and deliver improved value for money for residents across the borough.
“In 2009 an Improvement Board was set up, at my request, and this is now helping to drive forward the improvement we need to make at Boston Borough.
“Work is now going ahead to meet the long awaited aim of improving the flow of traffic and
new bus services have brought more shoppers into town.
“The refurbished Park Gate toilets are now open, more allotments are available, plans are being progressed to improve street parking arrangements, and climate change issues are being addressed and more people are benefiting from the healthy walks scheme”
Then there’s a paean of praise for the Big Boston Clean-up, the Placecheck programme, the launch of a “Greening Boston” campaign, and the ongoing partnerships in the fight against crime.
We told we’ve shaken off our “fat” label, are getting fitter, and have excellent sporting, leisure and amenity facilities.
Again, with characteristic modesty, Councillor Austin reminds us: “I launched an initiative to attract tourists, day visitors and local residents by enjoying the Boston Experience.”
And, although most of would rather forget Boston’s status an area classed as at serious risk from flooding - with all the disadvantages that this entails - he tells us that later this year we will mark the 200th anniversary of Boston’s last great flood by staging an exhibition in “the new Community Rooms in Narrow Bargate”.
Boston Eye says “pish and tush!”
The bulk of the so-called achievements are in fact a continuation of historical projects, and there is disagreement over the creation of the Improvement Board and the authorship of the Boston Experience.
Certainly Councillor Austin demonstrates enough “I” trouble to mark him out as a somewhat reluctant team player.
And as for the “new Community Rooms in Narrow Bargate” - is he seriously referring to the long overdue scheme to convert the former Sketchley shop and neighbouring card shop into a so-called “community hub?”
“New community rooms?”
Pompous stuff and nonsense!
He concludes: “Cuts in funding from central Government will challenge us in the years ahead and we will discover the fine detail in the Autumn. But we are prepared.”
What a good scout!

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* How this will sit with the decision to rebrand the Norfolk Broads as “Britain’s Magical Waterland" to try to attract visitors to the region is anyone’s guess. We never though that Boston could reasonably earn this nomenclature in the first place, and the Norfolk claim is far more acceptable.

Week ending 23rd July

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
On Target ... Ten out of ten to the Boston Target for at last following up Boston Eye’s lead and asking a few questions about the proposed redevelopment of West Street.It confirms our suspicion that any development will be a small and piecemeal affair, which is exactly not what it needed. We well recall the planners insisting that West Street needed to be one big single project that would enhance the town and make it a magnet for shoppers Expect another about turn in the not-too-distant future.

Missing links ... Back in May, we reported the row over the decision to remove links from the borough’s website to councillor’s blogs and social network sites because of fears of the legal position concerning the risk of libel. The most vocal critic of this bizarre decision was Tory councillor Raymond Singleton-McGuire, a long time blogger and critic of the ruling BBI party. Now we note the list of councillors again includes the links to his blog, website, Facebook and Twitter pages.
 
















Not so lucky is BNP councillor David Owens, whose blog link was removed at the same time but has not been reinstated. Political bias? Surely not.
Blooming pathetic ... Only the other week we mentioned how embarrassing it must be for the local businesses whose names are still associated with the apparently defunct "Boston in Bloom" project . Outside the Post Office, two patchy strips of grass were all that are left of the once beautifully tended flower beds maintained by the borough as part of the sponsorship deal. We thought that the scheme had fallen into disuse, but now that we read that Boston BID takes credit for “Boston in Bloom 2010 ”everything suddenly becomes clear.
Water load of exaggeration ... Last week we criticised the authorities over their attitude to youngster cooling off in local rivers during the current hot spell. Now we note that no fewer than five authorities - Boston Police, British Transport Police, Network Rail, British Waterways and the borough’s community safety team - have combined to stamp out these young vermin. A police spokesman says: "The thoughtless actions of a few have had a major impact on tourism in Boston. Boat owners are choosing not to visit and moor here amid fears of vandalism and this massive loss in revenue for British Waterways impacts on the whole economy of Boston.” Boston Eye says: “Rubbish.”
Blind eye ... A concerned local highlights Boston’s untidy streets, self set weeds growing in gutters and on pavements, the sewage smells that pervade some shopping areas, and the scruffy state of Boston’s Central Park. We’ve noticed them as well - in fact we’ve written about such things often in the past. How then is it that they appear to elude the eyes and noses of the councillors who claim to represent us? Perhaps they've been to the Horatio Nelson school of observation.
Load of rubbish ... The letters continue to pour in about last week’s pronouncement by Deputy Chief Executive Phil Drury that there will be no return to weekly bin collections because we all love fortnightly collections so much. Tell that to be people battling maggots and vermin and others who are unable to take excess waste to the tip.We love a decisive leader, but we’d like him a lot more if he perhaps offered to compromise, and resume weekly collections at least for the summer months.
Quicker by Tardis ... as the waters rise higher around Boston Borough Council, the borough sails serenely on with the promotion with it’s best kep front garden competition ...

... except for one small problem.

Oh well ...

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*Click on pictures to enlarge links

A litany of failure

After all the positive and forward-looking signs coming from our neighbouring district councils, and just when you think things can’t get any worse, up bobs something called the governance and performance monitoring quarterly report to prove you wrong.
Instead of telling us that there is light at the end of the tunnel, we are warned that some of the few areas where we might anticipate progress seem to be built on very shaky foundations.
We are told that the failure to “mainstream” current resources and the potential loss of future external funding may threaten improvements in priority areas and a failure to achieve objectives.
Lack of control and ownership of shared outcomes may result in an inability to deliver our aspirations in priority areas, particularly in relation to cohesion, health, congestion, town centre, built heritage and crime.
Lack of resources for discretionary services may threaten what few remaining leisure and cultural services we have left.
Failure to maintain positive working relationships with partners such as Lincolnshire County Council may damage plans for priority areas, particularly in relation to congestion and town centre - the second reference to these vital areas.
Failure to identify funding to replace the current fleet of waste collection vehicles and implement green waste collection may prevent improvement of recycling rates.
Lack of ability to influence housing supply due to flood risk and not being able to pump prime may result in failure to deliver targets and increase availability of affordable housing and decent homes.
Lack of ability to influence decision-making in relation to flood risk and climate change may result in a negative impact on the future sustainability of Boston and its status as a sub-regional centre and increasing levels of deprivation.
Failure to deliver a balanced budget and medium term financial strategy for 2010/11 onwards may result in an inability to make/sustain improvements in priority areas and a failure to achieve overall objectives.
Failure to address leadership and capacity issues to improve performance may result in a failure to achieve overall objectives.
Failure properly to manage partnerships and contracting arrangements may result in hidden costs and cost budget overruns, loss of control over service delivery, and potential compliance issues.
Then there’s the impact of the economic slowdown and the risk of failure to ensure continuity of key services may result in interruptions to service delivery, additional costs incurred in recovery/remedial action, damaged reputation, and missed targets.
Of course, none of this need happen, and if it does, it need not be everything at once.
But while we see councils in other areas seeking and achieving improvement and tackling risk, we sadly find Boston apparently adopting a supine position and allowing itself to become a victim rather than a victor.
Where is the leadership?

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Warning of Boston "betrayal"

Yesterday’s blog about the merger of services between South Holland and East Lindsey District Councils, and comments by Boston’s Interim Chief Executive Richard Harbord, has produced an angry reaction from South Holland’s Leader Councillor Gary Porter.
He was particularly incensed by a report before tonight’s meeting of Boston’s cabinet in which Mr Harbord says: “I am informed that at a presentation to all staff at South Holland their Leader told the staff we would be joining them after the election next year but that we would have to pay a large joining fee to recompense them for their start up costs.
“I believe their start up costs have been very large indeed and when I met the Managing Director of the new company recently I told him we would be happy for them to tender competitively for work that we advertised but we would not be prepared to ever pay an ‘entrance fee.’”
Councillor Porter does not mince his words in his response to this in an e-mail to Boston Bypass Independents Leader Richard Austin and copied to all members of the council:

Richard,
I have been given a copy of your report to your Cabinet. I am surprised (only a little) that you can try to misinform your Executive members by feeding them rumour and ill informed gossip in a Cabinet report.
I never told my staff that Boston would be joining the MSO ( Merged Services Organisation) in May (an accusation RH knows that I have denied before, because he has been copied in to emails between Raymond and I.)
I was asked why Boston pulled out of the deal and I said because most of the members were misled and ill informed (you know this to be true) I was also asked if there was a chance for other councils to join the company later and I said yes but this would cost them, I also said that I was confident that a near neighbour beginning with B would be joining next year. A prediction that I remain confident on delivering given the urgent item* (that you are aware of) that I will be taking to my Cabinet today.
As for the rest of your report, you know after Friday’s meeting you will have to find significant savings and none of those proposals will deliver them for you. If you do not convey the seriousness of your financial situation to your members you will be betraying them and more importantly the people of Boston.
Disappointed but not surprised,
Gary

What do readers between the lines make of this?

• misinform Executive members by feeding them rumour and ill informed gossip
• members misled and ill informed (you know this to be true)
• If you do not convey the seriousness of your financial situation to your members you will be betraying them and more importantly the people of Boston

These are not allegations to be lightly made, and it is high time for someone to ask what on earth is going on.
Boston Eye has on many previous occasions highlighted the secrecy of the ruling party, and the considerable number of papers that are discussed outwith the public domain.
If warnings of a perilous financial future facing Boston are apparently being minimised then someone, somewhere needs to stand up and be counted.
Boston has been badly ruled for too long.

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*We imagine this is a reference to the move for SHDC Chief Executive Terry Huggins to take over management at Breckland District Council in Norfolk. Sharp eyed observers will note that Breckland and Boston share the same initial letter.

Compass points in right direction for Spalding and Manby

A major step forward is being taken tonight that will see our neighbours in South Holland and East Lindsey District Councils merging services in a move that will save them tens of millions of pounds over the coming years. The item on the agenda at South Holland’s cabinet meeting says the two councils can save £30.726 million over ten years by establishing a jointly owned merged service company to operate Customer Services, Revenues and Benefits, ICT, Human Resources and Finance.
Not only that, but once the company has an established reputation for securing significant savings it will attract work from other public sector bodies - potentially locally, regionally and nationally, which the report says will provide even more financial benefits.
The company to be set up by the two councils starts on 1st August and will run for ten years under the name Compass Point Business Services (East Coast) Ltd - and, in a stunning piece of irony, we understand that much of the planning for these services (and the company's board meeting) is being carried out currently at the Boston Enterprise Centre - a handy halfway house between the two council areas.
Let’s not forget that Boston could have been a contender* -  but because of its lamentable financial disarray at the time discussions were taking place had to pull out.
Now we find the borough is likely playing host to what is expected to be a highly successful piece of local entrepreneurship, as well as losing out not only on major savings, but also the possibility of real income from offering services to others.
Oddly enough, as South Holland talks about it tonight, the merged services issue is on the agenda for tomorrow’s cabinet meeting, when Boston’s Interim Chief Executive Richard Harbord reports to the cabinet on proposals for sharing services with other Lincolnshire district councils in areas such as waste disposal, revenues and benefits, ICT, street scene, organisational development and communications.
But it seems there is no going back to amend lost opportunities.
In one section of his report, Mr Harbord says: “I am informed that at a presentation to all staff at South Holland their Leader told the staff we would be joining them after the election next year but that we would have to pay a large joining fee to recompense them for their start up costs.
“I believe their start up costs have been very large indeed and when I met the Managing Director of the new company recently I told him we would be happy for them to tender competitively for work that we advertised but we would not be prepared to ever pay an ‘entrance fee.’ ”
So there!
Not for the first time, Boston leads from the back.

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* "I could've had class. I could've been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am." - On the Waterfront (1954)

"Golden vote" gang fight moves to close Boston BID

Is Boston BID on the skids?
Mounting dissatisfaction with the organisation that has been inflicted on the town’s traders led to a chorus of protest at the BID’s annual meeting last week - led by local accountant Darron Abbot.
Here’s his report of the proceedings.
“As Dennis Bambridge opened the meeting, he surely must have glanced out of the window behind the considerable number of business owners assembled in the room, and, as the lightning struck and the thunder crashed before the heavens opened, must have realised the omens were not good.
“There was a very good turnout form the businesses within the BID area, in fact greatly underestimated by the organisers, who had to double the amount of seating provided.
“The meeting was opened by Dennis Bambridge, taking apologies. One business owner suggested Mr Bambridge apologise for getting them into the mess they were in, which he politely refused.
“The one thing I noticed was that some of the board members were not present, but had not had the decency to forward apologies - how committed are these people?
“Then came questions about the accuracy of the accounts that were being laid before the meeting, “Unfortunately in their arrogance Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce had not brought their own accountant who had carried out the book keeping and prepared the accounts (a service for which Lincolnshire Chamber of commerce had charged Boston BID Limited Just over £3,600.
“Instead they had brought in a gentleman from a firm of external accountants, who in fairness to him had very little idea of the contents of the accounts not having prepared them, and had certainly not been briefed on what to expect. I personally feel this was very poor on behalf of Boston BID Limited, and really showed the contempt with which they hold the businesses within the town.
“After questions about the cost of the computer software purchase and the cost of accountancy services provided by Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce that the accountant could not answer the crowd were obviously becoming restless.
“This was the point when the chairman lost control of the meeting, angry questions being fired at the board. The answers were given with a certain amount of arrogance. It was pointed out by the chairman that, the only people who had a real say in what was to happen were the Directors from Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce who had the ‘Golden vote.’ This just promoted more angry feelings.
“Then common sense prevailed from one member of the board, Mr Martin Puttick from Lincolnshire Co-op. This gentleman spoke very clearly and was the only one of the board who recognised the feeling within the room. It was he that urged the chairman to have a show of hands as to whether the business should continue (for this I would thank Mr Puttick). The chairman finally relented and a show of hands took place. The vote was pretty unanimous in favour of the company being wound up.
“Still resistance from the board with the two directors from the Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce appearing to be quite smug and arrogant that they were the only ones that could have the company wound up.
“The matter was then put in the hands of Simon Beardsley from Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce to further investigate the public feeling about winding up the company, and when pushed it was decided that an answer would be given within three months.
“The meeting then moved on to the appointment of the directors, at which point Dennis Bambridge said he was standing down and would not seek re-election. After a considerable amount of discussion regarding a vote of no confidence in the board, a ballot was taken. Most people in the room voted for none to be appointed, but as the current board members voted, new directors were appointed. It was a real shame that two of the people who were elected did not appear to have turned up at the meeting.
“Then came any other business I read out a statement (asking for the lifting of a restriction on the voting rights of the business members giving them no say on any resolution put forward - Ed.) you can probably guess that Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce refused to vote which I assume means they do not want to bring democracy to the company, but to retain their dictatorial hold over the businesses of Boston.
“The meeting ended with the future of Boston BID in the hands of Simon Beardsley - let’s just hope he sees sense and actually listens to the businesses of Boston.
“I would urge all businesses to let Simon Beardsley know exactly what they want by contacting him on ....
simon.beardsley@lincs-chamber.co.uk
Mobile 07795440221
Phone 01522 546928
Fax 01522 546667
“During the meeting one good very suggestion came from the representative of Dawson Butchers. This was to wind up Boston BID Limited, and start a group to make Boston Borough Council provide the services they should and not leave to others, a suggestion that seemed to make Councillor Dungworth a little uncomfortable in his seat. Could this be the start of the something to make the Council sit up and take notice. It appears the peasants are revolting!
“Now on to the Council chamber for on the 26th July with a question to Councillor Lenton.”

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BID, bad, and dangerous to know

Coming up on Monday ... what's went on at last week's annual meeting of Boston Business Improvement District?
Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce digs its heels in and sticks to the rules to bar locals from having their say ...
Can the unloved and unwanted BID survive?

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 16th July

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
A load of old rubbish! ... We note that a return to weekly rubbish collections has been ruled out by Boston Borough Council. Deputy Chief Executive Phil Drury is quoted as saying people have been “supportive” of the two bin scheme.  That's strange, because we don’t recall having any say in the matter - the system was inflicted on us and that was that. The hottest summer since it was introduced highlights all the dangers that people warned about with fortnightly collections of general rubbish. Why doesn’t Mr Drury own up and admit that the scheme is cheaper for the council which is all that matters these days?
This one will run and run ... Tucked away in a report to next week’s cabinet meeting is news of more delay in handing over the Princess Royal Sports Arena the private sector: “Leisure Connection, in discussion, with the Government Actuaries Department have ascertained that certificate of pension broad (sic - should this be “board?”) compliance is not yet available and the contract award is conditional on this matter.” Presumably as with everything, times costs money - but how much more taxpayers’ cash is going into this apparently bottomless pit?
Parish the thought ... Even though Boston has a large number of parishes - at 18 - it’s disappointing to see that there are currently vacancies for councillors in three of them, whilst a fourth has been filled uncontested. We accept that the parish level represents the nursery slopes of local government, but regret that so many are not finding the duty worth the candle and that so few can be bothered to seek election.
Drunk with power ... We note that a meeting to discuss banning drinking in public places to the whole of the borough is being held on Tuesday. Lest anyone thinks that this is some sort of groundswell of public opinion, we should point our that it is the brainchild of a local residents’ group called Boston North West Action Group. This group has specific local issues with alfresco boozing, and to try to turn them into a borough wide concern is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. We have long held doubts about the use of Designated Public Place Orders - DPPOs - in Boston and are pleased that the council has so far resisted the blandishments of this group.
Catchphrase ... The borough’s governance and performance monitoring quarterly report appears under the heading “One Team - working together for Boston.” We’ve long mused about what effect people think these slogans have on those who read them. One team? Surely not. You’d need a meeting room the size of the Royal Albert Hall to accommodate them and they'd never agree on an agenda!.
Spellbound....  Headline of the week winner is the Boston Standard, for the entry: “Time to ‘role up our sleeves and help’ on global challenges.” They may have spellcheckers these days, but if you haven't a clue which is the right spelling to use, then nothing can save you!
Coming up on Monday ... BID, bad, and dangerous to know - the latest  moves to disband this unwanted company.

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

Boston needs to stake early claim in agency shake-up

We wonder what impact the coalition government’s decision to scrap its nine development agencies will have on Boston when EMDA - the East Midlands Development Agency ceases to exist.
More details on the axing of the agencies will be published later in the year, but in the meantime
communities secretary Eric Pickles and business secretary Vince Cable have sai they are keen to encourage local businesses and councils to work together to develop proposals for local enterprise partnerships - LEPs - and want to rebalance the economy towards the private sector.
Interestingly, given the perceived bias of EMDA towards Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire rather than Lincolnshire, the letter notes that “some local and regional boundaries do not reflect functional economic areas. We wish to enable partnerships to better reflect the natural economic geography of the areas they serve and hence to cover real functional economic and travel to work areas.”
Other key points are:

• “Partnerships will want to create the right environment for business and growth in their areas, by tackling issues such as planning and housing, local transport and infrastructure priorities, employment and enterprise and the transition to the low carbon economy. Supporting small business start-ups will therefore be important. They will want to work closely with universities and further education colleges, and with other relevant stakeholders. In some areas, tourism will also be an important economic driver."“To be effective partnerships, it is vital that business and civic leaders work together. We believe this would normally mean an equal representation on the boards of these partnerships and that a prominent business leader should chair the board.”
• “To be sufficiently strategic, we would expect that partnerships would include groups of upper tier authorities. If it is clearly the wish of business and civic leaders to establish a local enterprise partnership for a functional economic area that matches existing regional boundaries, we will not object.”
• “Government is keen to work closely with and through capable local enterprise partnerships which meet these criteria.”
• “We would therefore welcome outline proposals from partnerships of local authorities and businesses, reflecting the Coalition Government's agenda, as soon as possible, and no later than 6 September.”

Clearly Boston seems unlikely to have much of a voice in all of this, but we need to make our presence felt at this early stage in the game to ensure that we are not as so often happens pushed to the bottom of the list.

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

Challenge on the agenda for Boston BID

Tonight’s annual meeting of the Boston Business Improvement District should be an interesting one.
In the audience will be a number of dissatisfied shareholders who feel that they have had unwanted membership foisted on them, and then faced legal action for failing to pay a levy that they believe is unfair and not being properly spent.
Having started the Town Ranger scheme, pulled a few weeds, and set up a hot line for people to call in the event of any problems with the so-far problem-free roadworks scheme, the BID is supposed to be masterminding the development of the town HUB which is now almost two months behind schedule, and has now directed its attention to the next cunning plan - to attract more visitors from overseas.
Given the fact that so many far better equipped organisations have tried to do this and failed, plus the BID’s lamentable track record to date, the prospects for success look slim.
Then there is the murky relationship between Boston BID and Boston Borough Council.
Having vigorously denied carrying out admin tasks for the BID nor making any charges to the organisation, the borough suddenly remembered that this was not the case and that it can actually reclaim the cost of administering the collection of the BID levy.
It now emerges that as well as having a statutory obligation to collect the BID levy on behalf of Boston BID Boston Borough Council was required to purchase additional computer software, which works alongside its existing business rates software.
So at a stroke, the borough has gone from making no charge to being able to bill the BID for:
1. Software implementation - £13,990 +VAT.
2. Annual software maintenance costs - £1,395 + VAT
3. Administration and collection costs
4. BID levy bad debts
5. Payments for any bid services or works provided by the council.
The fact is that the BID spends almost all the money it charges its shareholders on paying its manager, the town rangers, and for office space and admin.
If enough disgruntled shareholders can force a vote tonight the BID could be wound up - and based on its performance to date, we see no reason why it should not be.

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

Voters play hard to get

We guess that apathy produces the outcome that it deserves.
Back in January, Boston Borough Council considered a report on the new executive arrangements which the government is introducing after next year’s local elections, and tonight the council's Standard’s Committee discusses the way to go forward.
The choice was between one of two forms of executive - either an elected Mayor and Cabinet, or what’s been called a “‘New style” Leader and Cabinet ... which is more or less the same as the current system except that the leader has more power than at present.
Apparently, the council organised an exhaustive trawl of public opinion - in the shape of an online questionnaire, media coverage editorially, advertising in the local media, a general survey sent out to all residents with the council tax bills, whilst councillors were encouraged to circulate copies of the leaflet within their wards, citizens panel members were e-mailed with a link to the online questionnaire, and “hard to reach groups” were also consulted.
The result seems to show that everyone in the borough fell into the “hard to reach” category.
We know that local government affairs induce overwhelming apathy among the voting public, but even we were surprised to learn that only 1,021 votes were received - 1,008 by post and 13 online. And let’s not forget that quite a few of those will be councillors, their families and borough employees.
The majority - 65% - voted for the Leader and Cabinet model, and 33% for an Elected Mayor and Cabinet. The remaining 2% of respondents didn’t vote for either option, but left “relevant” comments. We bet they did!
Overall, a shameful 2% of the local electorate took part in this consultation.
So do people simply not care?
We were surprised to hear about the survey sent with council tax bills - but when we dredged out the pile of bumph that came with the tax bill .... there it was - we’d missed it entirely.
Perhaps a snappier title other than “A Leader or an Elected Mayor. Governance Consultation” might have attracted more readers.
All in all we feel that more could have been done to interest people in the debate.
The outcome is that we will continue with the same power hungry, voter-indifferent elitist clique that we are currently lumbered with.
Whilst we could not guess the outcome if more people had voted, we do feel that result is telling us that the borough is badly out of touch with the electorate and needs to work hard to re-engage their interest - if ever it engaged it.
Meanwhile, it looks as though we’ll simply pay the price.

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

Let's look for the silver lining ...

We wonder why it is that in Boston we so often tend to celebrate the bad news rather than the good?
The “Council Noticeboard” in this week’s local papers - not to be confused with the council “bulletin” which is different altogether - leads with the news that the borough has has been selected for a pilot project - “a first for Lincolnshire” - in which staff specially trained to deal with anti-social behaviour issues will work with “some of the most challenging families.”
By the sound of things, we’re talking about families from hell - the sort that every community
has, but tends to deal with discreetly rather than shouting about them from the rooftops ... somewhat in the way the Victorians used to tuck their doolally relatives away in the attic.
But no, here we celebrate these dysfunctional residents described as “the most challenging and chaotic families.”
In case you think that one might be living next door to you, you’ll recognise them by their levels of truancy, alcohol, drug and volatile-substance abuse, their obesity and smoking, pregnancy among their teenage members and the fact that both the youngsters of employment age and their parents (assuming that there are two) are unemployed.
And if they are homeless, we get the feeling that they might be housed in that empty home next to yours.
"These are families,” the borough advises us gravely, “ whose behaviour can destroy communities.”
We would be stupid to imagine that there are no bad families in Boston. Every place has them. But we find it difficult to believe that those which exist are as bad as those described. And surely, there are other areas - even in Lincolnshire - which are more deserving of this unique honour that has been bestowed upon Boston..
What we take exception to is the snapshot of Boston that publicity such as this produces.
Gradually, statistics, projects and other things of this ilk combine to paint a picture that causes damage to an area’s image and reputation.
Boston?
We know that place ... fatties, failing schools, street drinking problems, traffic jams ... and now we hear that they have some of the worst families in Britain as neighbours.
Let’s be more cautious about what we decide to use to “promote” the borough, and more selective in seeking the silver lining rather than the cloud.

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 9th July

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
Closed and opaque ... The Boston Target, which brought us the news that the mystery million pound loan taken out by Boston Borough Council was to tart up its West Street palace, blithely ignores this apparent inaccuracy with the headline: “Council's mystery million explained.” It quotes Interim Chief Executive Richard Harbord as saying that nothing has changed since he told the cabinet that no new information had come to light. All he can tell us is that the money was spent on whatever it was borrowed for, but that no-one knows what it was borrowed for. Some “explanation.” Very open and transparent.
We’ll always have Bournemouth ... All good things come to an end, and as Boston’s dynamic duo return home to hand out sticks of rock to fellow BBI members and tell them what hard work it’s been at the Local Government Annual Conference in Bournemouth, the outlook might seem a bit bleak. But fear not. The LGA annual rural commission, conference and exhibition is being held on 8th September in Chester. It has to be a must at a mere £229 apiece excluding accommodation for LGA members. Not a patch on this week’s conference at £519 but well worth the visit all the same.
Unlucky for some ... We never cease to be amazed by the variety of meetings which appear on the borough council’s agenda. One we’ve never heard of has popped up for the 13th. It's called a Consideration Hearing in respect of Standards Complaints, but that’s all we’ll ever learn, as the rule, rather than the exception, is to ban both press and public from the hearing.
Hot under the collar 1... The warm weather’s here, which means it’s time for the Boston Police annual warning to youngsters not to enjoy themselves if they encounter a stretch of water. Usually the line the police take is safety fears. But this year they’ve factored in “complaints from boat owners about incidents of anti-social behaviour “ and “increasing concerns for the safety of teenagers who may also be entering the water after consuming alcohol.” Were none of these people ever young?
Hot under the collar 2 ... Meanwhile we note a stern warning from Boston Police about cycling on footpaths. “My team will be cracking down on cyclists who continue to ignore warnings and who put the public at risk by cycling on footpaths,” says a spokesman. Apparently such behaviour can attract a £30 fine. We would be interested to learn when the last such fine was imposed, and how many there have been in, say, the past five years. This is one area where offenders are blatant, and the police useless.
Was it worth it? ... We were browsing the National Lottery list of grants for good causes the other day and note that over time, Boston Borough Council has received a total of £1,864,800 for buildings and monuments whilst Heritage Lincolnshire won another £444,800 for a Boston project. So much money ... but what is there to see for it?
Numbers game-1... Monday sees our 500th blog since we changed from the webpage format. All told we’ve been banging away to try to get a better Boston for more than three years. It seems that no-one listens, but we’re not going to give up.
Numbers game -2 ... And look at the calendar - just 300 days to go before the local government elections and the chance to hand the borough back to the people. The see-saw has tipped - all we now need to do is to be patient!
You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

County needs pressing on Boston education matters

Unusually for Google, our alarm clock failed to ring to remind us of the most recent council council meeting on 18th June.
Not that it matters, as our local “newspapers” never bother to attend and let us know what’s going on.
At the meeting County Councillor Ramonde Newell had an interesting question for the county’s education supremo, Councillor Patricia Bradwell - and the answer he received raised cause for concern.
Councillor Newell is a somewhat better egg at County Hall, where he theoretically sits as an Independent, rather than a member of the Boston Bypass group.
He began by reminding Councillor Bradwell that Boston has the poorest performing school in the whole of England and Wales. Not only that, but the borough has a large primary school in special measures but progressing well, and in one of Boston’s primary schools over 50% of pupils do not have English as their first language.
“As a qualified teacher and linguist I realise that teaching an English curriculum to pupils whose first language is not English can be extremely difficult
“Could you tell me what is the actual number of pupils by school in Boston whose first language is not English and what resources, strategies , and information have been provided to schools, parents teachers, and pupils to ensure that education in Boston has not been compromised and will that continue to be guaranteed during the cuts.”
Councilor Bradwell’s response was not helpful.
“I‘m not going to reel off the number of children in each school in Boston. I actually do believe though that the facilities we do now provide to families coming to the county where English isn’t their first language is really excellent .”
Councillor Bradwell is one of the senior cadre we have mentioned before, who - whilst they may have the all answers - are not especially skilled at articulating them.
She tends to croak a little and to ramble, but the drift of the reply was that - whilst a few years ago 30 children whose first language wasn’t English arrived at a school on the first day of term, that is not now the case.
Lots of help is now available - so much so that pupils can learn English “within two to three months.”
She went on: “We are doing a lot. A couple of years ago this was a problem but it isn’t now.
“Obviously if you've got a problem in Boston then you need to let me know ....” - but she added
“I don’t believe that is an issue there”
Future help for schools will depend on how many are left under local authority control under the proposed academy system, and at the moment nothing was clear.
Boston Eye thought Councillor Bradwell was unfairly dismissive of Councillor Newell’s question.
The last thing that Boston needs is a slipshod schools system - and to expect local councillors to be the eyes and ears of the education department is lazy and wrong..
A good education is the cornerstone of a quality life, and the county should continue to be pressed to make sure that the borough’s young get the best possible start and not allowed to fob off people who have genuine concerns..
To make matters worse, we have since heard of the cuts in funding for major building projects for Haven High Technology College and the Boston Grammar Schools Federation school building in Boston - which makes the need for the best possible education more important than ever.
You can see the Councillor Newell’s question and Councillor Bradwell’s lacklustre response by clicking here .... then advancing the timer to 56.40.

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

Police seek to claw back confidence

We hate to sound cynical, but must say that we think if nothing else, the Lincolnshire Police plan for the county for 2010-2013 is hopelessly over ambitious.
The force wants to pull itself up by its bootstraps after a recent spell which has seen it ranked bottom of the list of 43 forces in England and Wales in terms of public confidence; scrapping investigation into 9,650 reported crime investigations which they concluded there was no hope of solving; and a review by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary which named Lincolnshire as one of only four forces lacking the specialist skills and resources needed to manage murders, sexual assaults, and other serious offences, and said urgent work was needed to bring them up to national standards.
Now, the force says within three years it aims to be in the highest category of performance within the HMIC inspection of police authorities programme.
“In order to achieve this aspiration we know that we must continue to improve trust and confidence and
continue to cut crime. We also have to increase our detection rates and this year we intend to solve:
■ 46% more house burglaries
■ 150% more thefts from vehicles
150% more thefts from vehicles
■ 35% more assaults where injury is caused
■ 50% more offences of criminal damage”
We can’t quite work out how this is supposed to happen - but it sounds good on paper, which is usually all that matters these days.
To meet the oft-voiced demand for uniformed officers on the streets of Lincolnshire the plan says: “We are working hard to reduce the amount of paperwork that keeps officers in police stations, so that they can spend more time responding to your needs. We have already introduced a number of technological solutions to enable officers to spend more time on patrol within communities.”
Again, it sounds good - but will we actually see any changes?
Boston has been poorly served by our local police for many years, and to be honest we see no reason for that to change this late in the day.
Apparently Lincolnshire council taxpayers make a higher than average contribution to the costs of policing in the county and the force plans to achieve efficiency savings of at least £12 million over three years and to raise funding from sponsorship and other income generating initiatives, which will be ploughed back into front line policing.
Sponsorship? The mind boggles.
Certainly, the plan talks the talk - let’s wait and see whether it can walk the walk as well.
Read the plan in full by clicking here .
You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com   Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

PS: Day Two at the Local Government Association annual conference, and  the weather for Bournemouth is expected to be cloudy with early drizzle and rain at first. Some brief sunny spells are expected to develop during the afternoon and evening period. Temperatures will be around the average for early July. Winds will be a moderate south-westerly. Not such a nice day, Councillors Austin.

Left hands and right hands

From time to time we have raised a question or two about the Boston Improvement District and what it is - or more properly isn’t - doing to make Boston a better place. But our questions have paled into significance beside those being raised by Boston accountant Darron Abbott.
Recently, he made a Freedom of Information request to Boston Borough Council about its business relationship with Boston BID.
Here are some of the questions and answers.
Q. Do Boston Borough Council have a formal contract for the supply of administration services to the above company?
A. Boston Borough Council do not undertake any administrative functions on behalf of Boston BID. Boston Borough Council do however have a statutory obligation to collect the BID Levy on Behalf of Boston BID. The council is not paid for this service.
Q. Is the level of charges agreed with the above company per annum or charged on a hourly work done basis?
A. Boston Borough Council is not paid by Boston BID for collecting the BID levy.
Q. What amount was charged by Boston Borough Council to the above company in the year ended 31st March 2010?
A. There was no charge.

Pretty straightforward and unambiguous, isn’t it? Persistent questions receive unequivocal answers.
The fact that Boston Borough Council does not receive any payment for any service provided for Boston BID, caused some surprise, as there was no reason why it should not, and also raised the question of why council taxpayers should “subsidise” the BID.
Then came an additional response to Mr Abbott’s FOI request.
“Further to our recent response to your FOI request I am writing again to clarify some of the answers we provided.
“Boston Borough Council has a statutory obligation to collect the BID levy on behalf of Boston BID. In order to collect the BID levy Boston Borough Council was required to purchase additional computer software, which works alongside the existing Business Rates software. Boston Borough Council has a contract with Boston BID that allows them to recover the cost of purchasing this software and the annual licensing fee for operating it. This contract also permits the council to recover all costs incurred by the council associated with the collection of the BID levy.
“The contract between Boston Borough Council and BID permits Boston Borough Council to deduct the costs identified above from the BID levy collected.
“At the time of your FOI request Boston Borough Council had not yet deducted costs for the period ending 31st March 2010. The council has been working on calculating costs for the year ending 31st March 2010 and will recover costs for expenditure it has incurred in that period. “
So which reply do we believe?
Surely the council must do better than this in the interests of “openness and transparency.”

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

PS: the weather for Bournemouth today is - dry with little or no cloud and plenty of sunny or bright spells. Temperatures average for early July with a maximum of 22c (68f). Winds gentle to moderate south-westerly. Have a nice day, Councillors Austin.

Ho, ho, ho, the Jolly Richard

flies over Bournemouth

Tomorrow sees the start of the Local Government Association annual conference - a three day knees up at Bournemouth International Centre where the great and the good from town halls across the country have a high old time under the guise of doing business.
The event concludes on Thursday with an exhausting gala awards dinner hosted by BBC hack Jeremy Vine, at which everyone will slap everyone else on the back for being such good eggs.
Certainly it’s an event where places are highly prized and hard to come by, which leads us to an e-mail which arrived at Boston Eye the other day.

“Did you hear about the council leader who offered the main opposition party leader a freebie, viz: an expenses paid attendance at the Local Government Association annual conference at Bournemouth - along with all the attendant corporate hospitality.
“Oh, and in the same conversation the council leader raised the possibility of the future avoidance by the opposition of call-ins of cabinet decisions.
“I am not suggesting any connection, although the more cynical amongst us could possibly fall into that trap.
“Upon a considered refusal of his offer, in all parts, the council leader offered this freebie to the next biggest political group on the council, which he had worked out to be his own party members who were not in the cabinet!
“And guess what? The winner of a ballot amongst this 'group' for this freebie to accompany the leader to Bournemouth, so I am informed, was the leader's wife.
Ain't life wonderful/incredible.”

We’ve heard this tale from several sources, and would be interested to know how the mathematics work.
The present political composition of the council is:- 18 Boston Bypass Independents, 7 Conservatives, 4 Better Boston and 3 Independent members ... but using the Austin Algorithm* which divides the BBI into two groups, then the pecking order by size is apparently:
The Cabinet (8)
The BBI backbenchers (10)
The Conservatives (7)
The BBG (4)
The Independents (3)
Using the same argument that Councillor Austin contrived which lets his wife accompany him to Bournemouth ought to mean that the decision to offer places at the LGA should not to have been taken by him, but by the BBI rump.
And how convenient that of all the choices open to the BBI backbenchers, they should - knowing that Councillor Austin was attending as leader - go on to nominate his wife to accompany him.
Not for the first time, they are collaborating in abuse of the system and should hang their heads in shame.
Although Thursday night is the LGA gala awards dinner night, we feel sure that knowing winks will be directed at Councillor and Mrs Austin if they are attending Wednesday’s event at the LG Group Stand in the Bourne Lounge. The event is billed as a “Smoothie Reception !”

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

* Austin Algorithm - a personal formula in which the answer always turns out to be what the person asking the question wants it to be. Also known as the Mequation.

Week ending 2nd July

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
Lies, damn lies and statistics ... So at a stroke, Boston is no longer flabby and unfit. Figures from Sport England show that participation in sport rose from 14.6 per cent in 2005/6 to 21.4 per cent now – a rise of 6.8 per cent. Despite the fact that Sport England say that figures like these are the result of their efforts, the borough's portfolio holder for sport, Councillor Richard Dungworth, is quick to claim credit, saying the figures help confirm that Boston Borough Council’s strategy for sport and healthy lifestyles is helping promote an increase in well-being in the borough. Two "helps" in the same sentence suggest some distance from the action. We're always sceptical about figures like these. A six percent increase is less impressive when one notes that it has taken place over four years - and it would also be interesting to hear what the actual numbers are. If two people take up pogo stick jumping where only one did previously, that's a £100% increase.
Question time ...The debate continues into the rights and wrongs of writing off almost £2 million of taxpayers' money thrown at the Princess Royal Sports Arena. Letters to the local papers are tending to the view that it's time to put the whole debacle behind us and forget it ever happened. Perhaps one day we might- but certainly not until after a full, penetrating and official enquiry into the whole mess that will clarify once and for all where responsibility lay for the disastrous decisions taken - rather than the vague pointing of fingers that it currently going on.
Free for none ... The decline in quality of our local papers continues apace. A handout from Boston Borough Council concerning a Festival of British Archaeology exhibition at the Guildhall is slavishly reproduced almost word for word, and gives the impression that it is free to visit. The crucial line omitted from the borough press release reads: "Normal admission fees apply." Expect a few angry visitors.
Promises, promises ... Earlier this week we noted that "work" of some sort appears to have begun at the so-called "Hub" in the former Sketchleys and Card Fair stores in Strait Bargate - almost two months to the day since we were told it would begin. Not only that, but the pledge from the lacklustre Boston BID, which for some reason seems to be co-ordinating the project, was that it would be open by the end of June - that's last Wednesday to you and us. At this rate the year's lease will be up by the time the place opens. And where are the window stickers that were due to brighten the town's growing army of empty shops. A few backsides need kicking, we thinks.
Up to his old tricks? ... The other week we took the Council Leader Richard Austin to task for pinching large chunks of an article by the Interim Chief Executive in a previous Boston Bulletin and submitting them as his own work in a letter to the local papers. Now we note he's apparently at it again. An article in the latest bulletin, which came out on Wednesday, entitled "The Boston Experience" appears under the leader's by-line. Could it be the same piece written by a member of staff that we criticised back in April for the invention of a place called "Waterland" and the use of the word "Mayfair" for May Fair. Oh, yes it could!
Over-egging the pudding ... Whilst we all need to take precautions to avoid becoming victims of crime, we feel that too much publicity can lead people worry unnecessarily. Everywhere we turn at the moment we see pictures of transparent cars, ninnies posing as Batman and Robin, and the orange clad council Tango Team (why?) warning us to secure our cars and sheds, and swelter behind closed doors and windows in the hottest summer for years. It's claimed that people now fear crime far more than they are likely to fall victim to it. There's a delicate balance to be struck here, and we feel that it is tipping the wrong way.

Sneak preview ... Coming up on Monday, how shrewd political manoeuvring has made it possible for the borough council's political Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson to enjoy a buckshee trip to Bournemouth ...

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

Shrunken West Street scheme is not what we want

A while ago we asked whether Boston was still set to get a major new shopping centre after a number of prominent websites which report development news were saying that the "Merchants Quay" project has now been saved.
Property Week reported that a company called Scarborough Group had bought Modus Properties and seven other Modus companies for £37m, and that the deal included the £80m Merchant’s Quay scheme in Boston.
A spokesman for Ernst & Young, which was appointed administrator of 14 Modus companies when they went into administration in June last year, called the deal a significant one, which would ensure the schemes would now be completed in a number of key locations.
When Merchants Quay was first mooted the £80 million project was said to be intended to revitalise a 12.26 acre area, stretching from West Street to Lincoln Lane including a 60,000 sq ft department store, a food store, eight "major space units," 17 additional units of various sizes, a new "riverside restaurant quarter," a 700 space "gold standard" car park, more than 100 new "city-style apartments," an hotel and a new "iconic" pedestrian bridge linking to the town centre.
However, this is Boston, and so there is always a fly in the ointment.
Repeated requests to the Scarborough Group asking for more information about their proposals for their newly acquired asset have been repeatedly ignored - so clearly, they don't feel that they have got that much to write home about. Ask them yourself if you like, the address is info@scarboroughgroup.com
Now we note from a story on the Europe Real Estate website that the area in question - far from being the major and much needed transformation of most of West Street that we all hoped for - is described as a "retail unit" on two acres in the town centre based on Rosegarth Street (see photo below from Google Maps.)

If this is the rectangle defined by the street itself, it may well include the recently opened car park that was acquired locally as an investment whilst Modus were still planning the project.
And if the news is correct, it's a blow for the town, as yet another piecemeal "retail unit" is the last thing that Boston needs.
We want an imaginative, sweeping plan for the whole area - something that ... for all its faults ... the Modus plan included in large measure..
Hopefully one day our local papers might start pursuing stories such as these and let us know what going on - or perhaps the council might have something to say ... but we won't hold our breath!
You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.