What can we say? We didn't say it

An e-mail after our piece about the Boston BID use of business funds to pay for yet another tier of pseudo policing takes us to task ....
"Having read the following paragraph from your blog - 'Cop this - business pays for yet another day in the office for Mr Plod' dated 17-02-09. '....while police cadets will bag your groceries for you in twice the time you would take yourself ... thus making the queues even longer,' I pondered just for a short while…. and then, I became angry. "I assume YOU as the author of these words were fully aware of the facts before making them? "If so, YOU should be ashamed, if not then just maybe in the future YOU would be kind enough to be more thorough in your research before YOU make such comments in the first place.
"For your information the cadets YOU so gracefully poke fun at gave up their free time during half term so they could visit ASDA and assist with bag packing in an attempt to raise as much money as possible for The Wednesday Club, a Charity, which they have adopted.
"The Wednesday Club was set up by parents/volunteers in a bid to provide a secure learning/socialising environment for young children and adults with both physical and learning disabilities in the Boston Borough area. There are several fundraising activities throughout the year and the money raised helps towards funding such things as trips and holidays.
"I would like to offer YOU the opportunity to visit us at the club, but people like YOU are very apt at hiding behind pseudonyms, lurking in the shadows and poking fun at people who wish to help others. However, if YOU do ever build up enough courage to step from behind the shadows why don’t YOU pay us a visit at the club and YOU would see at first hand what good is being done, not only aided by the cadets but also many other good hearted citizens of Boston who in times of hardship still managed to pledged over £200 of their hard earned cash that day. The club is based at Focus 1 Youth Centre on Mill Road, Boston and we meet every Wednesday 6 – 8 pm.
"Kind Regards
"John Platts"
Editor's note:
Kind regards? After a rant like that, you can't mean it, John.
We have a policy at Boston Eye. When we're wrong, we're wrong and we admit it. If we make a mistake, we apologise and correct it.
In this case, we said (based on experience of previous years, when police cadets have "helped" to bag our groceries) that such assistance was likely to make the queues even longer.
If anything, this was a snipe at ASDA and the time it takes to clear the store at the end of shopping.
We made no mention of why the police cadets were in the store.
We made no mention of collection for charitable causes.
We made no mention of the Wednesday Club.
Sorry, John, but your e-mail is like a Chinese whisper gone mad.
You have chosen to interpret the tailpiece to a unrelated item into an attack on a worthwhile local charity when no attack was made.


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And the winner is ...

Stand by to be surprised and delighted by Boston's very own Oscar ceremony.
On Monday evening a piece of history will be made when Boston Borough Council selects the lucky person who will be the borough's Mayor from the merry month of May.
Of all the important issues that the Boston Bypass Independents needed to address a year ago, high on the list was the issue of the mayoralty.
Apparently, the concept that the post should be occupied by the councillor with the longest record of service was no longer good enough, and deemed "undemocratic" and something that we, the voters, didn't want, so the ruling group decided to bypass it - so that's why they're so named!
Now, says a report to Monday's meeting, all members of the council can "have the opportunity to put themselves forward to be elected as Mayor for the forthcoming municipal year" ... and with apparently no need to persuade their fellows of their suitability.
So, on Monday, will someone self-nominate - whilst waffling on about the honour of service and a burning desire to represent the town - and the rest of the BBI's sheepish majority endorse that individual? Or will we see a token alternative or two, perhaps even a "spontaneous" nomination ... most likely just be for show?
In normal circumstances, it is hard to imagine anyone bumptious enough to put themselves forward as the new policy allows.
But this is the BBI ... the party of Bloomin' Bumptious Individuals.
We think we can guess Monday's outcome - but we never say never, and can always hope that a surprise might emerge.
To ensure no allegations that the result is a foregone conclusion, a report to the meeting says that councillors can have a secret ballot if at least a third of the members present are in favour.
But a secret ballot implies dissent, and as the BBI doesn't do dissent, expect lots of cheering, back slapping and unconfined joy at the outcome.
All in all the rules will do what they were designed to do when they were created last year - to guarantee a mayor from the BBI.
At a time when the air is fragrant with pancakes and daffodils, we can also smell the scent of the history books being cooked.
As the mayoral selection tradition comes to a close, the new holder of the title may also find that another tradition will disappear this year - the opening of the May Fair marked by a ride on the famous gallopers.
In common with its anti traditional stance, the BBI may well by then have ensured that there is no longer be a fair for the mayor to open.

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Is Merchants Quay silting up before it even opens?

We've already expressed concern about the proposed development known as Merchants Quay.
At the moment, it is just a gleam in the eye of the developer - Modus Properties of Manchester.
The Modus website continues to maintain that it will be open for business in 2012 - three years away - but the news that the department store Debenhams has pulled out of the scheme is possibly more of a blow than is being admitted.
Modus has told the local press only that talks with one of the "key occupiers" of the project have been put "on hold."
Meanwhile, the borough's assistant Chief Executive Steve Lumb is quoted as saying that discussions with retailers are at a "very early stage," and retailers will be considering all the options.
He is also saying that the council is working with Modus to ensure a scheme comes forward "as quickly as possible" .... which seems to hint that this might no longer mean 2012.
But, if completion of the development is a scant three years away, we would not call this an "early stage."
And rather worryingly, Modus seems to be a company that puts its all eggs in the same basket.
It currently lists eleven proposed locations where it plans urban regeneration.
Seven are clearly more advanced than the other five, because rather than hinting at jam tomorrow in the form of big names coming to town, Modus lists some of the shops that will be taking space in their developments.
And all of the seven - Wigan, Blackpool, Newport, Swindon, Crewe, Coventry and Wakefield - specify without exception that the "anchor" store for the project will be Debenhams.
Modus is now in the position have having to find an alternative anchor - and we are sure that most of the other likely names are probably already in bed with other developers.
Congratulations to Councillor Raymond Singleton-McGuire for disclosing the withdrawal of Debenhams.
He is also right when he calls on the council to save rather than spend.

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Another load of old ballots on the way!

It comes as no great surprise to learn that the proposed council tax increases for the coming year are calculated to make us weep with joy at the generosity of our masters.
Lincolnshire County Council is bragging that it is considering the lowest increase since sabre-toothed tigers stalked the wolds, and here in Boston a standstill budget is being proposed.
Only Lincolnshire Police are maintaining their greedy stance by saying that around 5% is the least they would need.
Call us cynical if you will, but we say that there is no surprise in the low level of increase to the county share because there will be elections in June, and the sheep tend to vote for the people who fleece them least.
Given that the County Council is Tory controlled, and that at the moment the world and his wife would disembowel themselves with a blunt putty knife before they would consider voting Labour, the county result would seem to be a done deal.
But there are unknown factors at work.
The current line-up at Lincolnshire County Council is 46 Conservatives, 19 Labour, 8 Lib Dem and 4 Independents (these are now known as Lincolnshire Independents ... yet another new party involving Boston Borough Council Leader Richard "Papa Dick" Austin.)
So .....
Will the new Lincolnshire Independents group campaign for each of the 77 Lincolnshire County Council seats? We would assume so, since their website claims that they "believe that all local councillors should be independent with local voters our only masters and local improvements our aim."
Will the Boston Bypass Independents put up candidates for the seven county seats which cover the borough? At the moment, Boston is broadly represented at county level with three Labour councillors, two Conservative, and one each for the Lib Dems and Lincolnshire Independents.
One would expect that the BBI would logically seek a voice at County Hall to pursue its ambitions for a by-pass for Boston ... but somehow, we doubt that they will have the nerve to field candidates.
As the Better Boston Group barely shows any interest in events at local level, we guess that they won't bother with the county elections either.
And what of the BNP?
When Councillor David Owens won the Fenside ward for the party, Wayne McDermott, the East Midlands BNP Regional Election Officer, told Boston Eye:- "I expect the BNP will win county seats next year. Boston has been waiting for a serious party to get organised in the area. People even voted UKIP before in Boston with some sizable votes. I am sure that David Owens will only be the first of several BNP councillors."
Interesting times ahead, as they say.

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Take 100 lines ... "Eye must look on the bright side of life"

At the weekend we admitted to having Victor Meldrew tendencies, and are well aware that we tend to highlight the half-emptiness of the glass rather than the reverse.
Now an e-mail from Paul has taken us to task, and suggested that our approach is perhaps more redolent of the mad doomsayer Cassandra, or the laconic pessimist Private Fraser from Dad's Army.
He writes:
"Dear Eye,
"You certainly keep going and write good English, but I find the constant cynicism and negativity just a bit - much.
"Partly I feel 'hey - this is my job, being a black-hearted depressive about Boston politics!' and partly it's an unsettingly unaccustomed feeling, ever agreeing with any columnist.
"If I thought for one moment they (it's he really) could ever be that intelligent and subtle, I'd entertain the conspiracy theory that you are trying to drum up sneaking sympathy for the regime by being so relentlessly bilious.
"Still, anyone who reads those great political anti-authoritarian heroes Orwell and Molesworth can't be all bad - and I only looked at you for the first time in a month wondering if, being anti-Party In The Park, you were also anti-May Fair. I'm pleased to see you aren't.
"I did honestly think BEFORE reading you (much like Darwin and Wallace, or was it Gromit?) 'yeah, while we're at it, why not blow up the Stump and anything else that makes Boston distinctive'. Must be fools seldom differing as I'd never be arrogant enough to do the other proverb.
"On balance, more power to your organ (as they say at Private Eye) I think - but try and come up with a few more positive ideas like your one about putting the Tourist Information in the Stump. Just to throw your cynicism into sharp relief occasionally. Otherwise I might start feeling sorry for councillors. And that would never do.
Regards,
Paul - If you're really that awake you'll know what political fish I have to fry. Sadly I'm relentlessly negative most of the time and very often despise my own party. But if I was in another, I'd almost certainly hold it in even more contempt!")
Thanks for that Paul.
You could be right, but we did once remark ahead of a recent rant that whilst we were accused of negativity, there was a lot to be negative about!
Perhaps we misunderstood the famous Japanese philosopher when he said: "Always look on the blight side of life!"
PS Paul - we got your affiliations in one ... and we understand your negativity.
But yes, we will try harder to find reasons to be cheerful.

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