At last, some things on which we all should agree

As we said before the election, probably the most ambitious manifesto was the one drawn up by Labour – but our cynical side (yes, we have one!) told us that this was fairly easy to do, given that the party was not contesting enough seats to gain control of Boston Borough Council, and would not therefore be able to deliver on its promises.

Having said that, ideas are ideas, and Labour is now putting flesh on the bones by expanding on a few of their proposals.
Most important of these is the call to make Strait Bargate pedestrian friendly again.
On its website, Labour reminds us of the broadcast debate ahead of the election at which all parties -apart from the Bypass Independents - agreed that Strait Bargate should cease to be a bus lane which pedestrians are grudgingly allowed to use.
“It is no longer a place of relative safety, where children and older folk can walk without worrying about vehicles. It is no longer such a pleasant place to take visitors to our town, or to sit and talk to friends and neighbours, or munch on a bag of chips,” says the website. “The incessant sound of beepers has put paid to that, along with the seats turned in towards the shops rather than to what SHOULD be the pedestrian walkway.
“The plain and simple truth is, there was never any need for the buses to run through Strait Bargate and the fact is – they don’t come through Strait Bargate during May Fair and still manage to function perfectly well.”
The newly-elected Labour councillors promise to campaign to make Strait Bargate a pedestrian area once again - and given what everyone said on the wireless, we cannot see why this should be a problem.
But we bet that it will, and that the buses will still be menacing pedestrians and polluting the air with noise and fumes in four years’ time.
Another item on the list is the eradication of dog fouling – which again should be something that can be agreed by all.
“Our new councillors will be urging the new Conservative administration to reinstate a dog warden, as this would have a major impact on our estates - firstly by removing stray dogs; and secondly enforcing the horrific environmental blight of dog fouling in our streets and parks.”
Boston is very fortunate in that it probably has more pedestrian access to waterside walks than most other towns in Britain.
In places like Cambridge, this benison is seen as a huge asset, and exploited to attract visitors.
In Boston, we make nothing of it – except to treat it as a handy loo for Rover, and it is right that this should be stopped.
Finally, Labour tells us: “We have started campaigning to bring back Party in the Park.
“Over the last couple of years, people have been telling us how much they have missed Party in the Park as they felt that it was the social event of the year.
“The origin of Party in the Park was that it was conceived and campaigned for by your previous Labour councillors because they understood that Boston had a heart, and that a cultural event such as Party in the Park created a great sense of pride in our community. Nobody could deny how successful it was.
“Sadly the miserly Boston Bypass Independent Party councillors never supported it because it wasn’t their idea and they axed it saying it was ‘a waste of money.’ We promised in our manifesto that if elected, we would resurrect the issue of Party in the Park. Well some of us have been elected and we intend to keep our promise. We will campaign vigorously to reinstate Party in the Park. Sadly – we are likely to be too late to reinstate it this year, but we believe that 2012 would be an excellent year, as it is also the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and the Olympics year, to bring our local communities together.”
This is where we part company with Labour's ambitions.
Our recollection was that the Party in the Park (it needs a definite article) was created as part of the celebrations to mark the millennium – and also because of an almost childish love of fireworks by certain senior council members and officers at the time.
The year the BBI seized power they neglected to check whether or not the event had cancellation insurance – and as bad luck would have it, it didn’t, and it was called off due to bad weather.
It was kicked into touch – rightly we believe – because in the worsening financial climate it became increasing untenable to justify such a huge expenditure of taxpayers’ money.
The only way it could be reintroduced would be if it was privately funded. This would inevitably mean introducing an admission charge – and also lifting the completely unnecessary ban on drinking in the park for the weekend in question.
We think that the first action would wipe out the party’s appeal overnight.
The second would be yet another piece of hypocrisy by which the council breaks its own laws when it feels like it – as will again be the case with the Fake Festival in August.
However, Labour’s plans are a start – and two out of three ain’t bad!
In the meantime, we were interested to see an appeal on the borough council website calling for an end to the dumping of garden waste in Staniland Road. This has been a long standing Labour cause célèbre, and we are pleased to see that it has at last been taken up officially – without acknowledgement of course!

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