Pear-shaped is

today's mantra

By some perverse form of osmosis is seems that no sooner does Boston Business Improvement District become involved in a project than it all goes pear-shaped.
Earlier this year, for reasons best know to itself, Boston Borough Council decided to let the BID handle the lion’s share of the operation to improve the look of the town centre with the aid of a £52,000 government grant.
The bulk of the money was spent on the community “hub” which has shown itself to be all but worthless since it opened well after schedule (apart, of course, from hosting the brilliant, crowd pulling, endlessly informative and entertaining Boston 200 exhibition - created by our brilliant and imaginative council leader Richard Austin.)
A sum of £12,000 was set aside to brighten the look of empty shops by decorating their windows, and a design created by local schoolchildren was approved.
Boston Eye regularly and repeatedly ask what has become of this money, and now we have an answer.
It appears that this project has been “quietly scrapped” because Boston Borough Council decided that it was a waste of money.
Yet again, the council is guilty of sneaky, underhand and patently non-transparent moves which for once it has been unable to keep under wraps.
The excuse offered is that empty shops turn over so rapidly that money would have been wasted because the graphics “sealed to the windows” would have to be removed and could not be reused.
Has our sneaky council not heard of self-cling film which can be removed and used elsewhere? Apparently not.
Instead “giant” reusable maps of Boston are to be used – though why this could not have been done in the first place has not been explained.
It’s hard to determine which is the more hapless – Boston Borough Council or Boston BID.
Over the long run it would have to be the council, as is has had more time and more practice. But in the short race, Boston BID must be ahead on points.
Not only is it unwanted by the town’s businesses upon whom it was so unfairly inflicted but we have seen no evidence that it is seeking to improve.
Only the other day we heard that the BID (or rather the businesses which fund it) had been fined £375 by Companies House for failing to submit its accounts on time. Some business organisation.
And whilst one minute the BID manager is pooh-poohing statistics highlight the number of empty shops around town, the next he is writing of his concerns over the self same issue.
Some months ago a “Task and Finish” committee was set up by Boston Borough Council to look into Boston BID – but the BID refused to have anything to do with it, and it appears that the committee simply slunk away with its tail between its legs.
The contempt in which the BID holds the council, the town’s businessmen and the local people is outrageous.
Yet still it is allowed to suck money from local firms and waste it willy nilly.
It is time Boston BID was brought to book.
Finally, and talking of things going pear-shaped, we commented yesterday on the abrupt withdrawal of the report on leisure services to the Cabinet by the Chief Executive and his deputy.
The report was also due to feature at today’s meeting of the borough’s Performance Review Committee under an item headed “Boston Sports Initiative/PRSA. Now of course, it won’t be discussed.
What is interesting is an attached excerpt from the cabinet minutes of 17th November which remains son the agenda.
Which among other things, reports:
• Answers provided by the Chairman of the Boston Sports Initiative were uninformative and unhelpful.
• Officers had not handed over the funding cheque to the Boston Sports Initiative until satisfied with the Princess Royal Sports Arena’s performance. The committee could not see how this was measured when no targets had been put in place since January 2010 to monitor performance.
• There was no indication of when Leisure Connections would take over the running of the facility, therefore, it was essential that an agreement was put in place between the Boston Sports Initiative and the Council.
• In the event that the Leisure Connections contract did not go ahead, it would make it all the more important to ensure good governance was in place by way of something such as a contract or service level agreement.
• The Princess Royal Sports Arena’s accessibility was still a major problem.
• The Giles School swimming pool could be used by the public when it opens, which would take users away from the Geoff Moulder Leisure Complex and the Princess Royal Sports Arena.
Remember what we said yesterday about the council plan to privatise leisure services going pear-shaped? Keep it in mind.

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