Week ending 11th September

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
Letter of the weak ... Failed Liberal candidate Mike Sheridan-Shinn takes to the pages of the Boston Standard to slag off Tory borough councillors Raymond Singlteon-McGuire and Myles Larrington for having "so much time on their hands" that they can use some of it to blog. The clear message to voters is that they had a lucky escape from a man who seems to think it is a bad thing for councillors to be multi-skilled, multi-tasking or technologically literate. An odd thing about the Sheridan-Shinn letter is that it is totally without context, as none of the things he mentions have previously been reported in the press. He uses words like "smearing" and "backstabbing," which again surprises us. As former readers of Councillor Larrington's now defunct blog will know, his comments always fell within the category known as fair comment, and Councillor Singleton-McGuire - whilst more outspoken - has always avoided becoming unpleasant. Mr SS stood for the Lib Dems against Councillor Larrington in the Pilgrim by-election, coming last of the five candidates, who also included Labour's Paul Kenny - the man whose official complaint against Councillor Larrington was instrumental in forcing him to stop blogging. In June Mr Sheridan-Shinn also fought Boston East in the County Council elections, where he equalled his unbroken record of coming bottom of the poll. Interestingly, that ward was also contested by Mr Kenny.
Gobsmacked IS the word ... It was with real shock that we viewed the pictures on Councillor David Owens's blog (click here to see for yourself) of the camp set up in Witham Country Park. It beggars belief that people can live like this in this day and age - especially in a place that is flaunted as a haven for families and visitors. Alarmingly, Councillor Owens refers to this site as "one of the many blots on Boston’s landscape," which makes matters even worse. If as he reports, councillors will soon be able to pass a bylaw to remove these people from its property, backed by the power of arrest, then they should get on with it. For an authority that throws Designated Public Places Orders around like confetti, there should be no delay for reasons of kindheartedness. Without prompt action a dreadful and potentially fatal threat remains for innocent members of the public.
Counting them in ... Earlier in the week we mentioned that Thanet District Council in Kent planned a code of conduct for councillors who blog. We also noticed with interest that their website publishes the attendance record of councillors. Reading it was very interesting, as we could see at a glance who was pulling their weight and who wasn't. There is no reason why Boston Borough Council could not do the selfsame thing, and we think that councillors ought to promote the idea so that taxpayers can see just how well served they are ... or aren't.
Having arrest ... Boston's PCSO's are endlessly creative when it comes to devising ways to avoid meeting the public. Their latest stunt - called "Supermarket Sweep" - involves noticeboards and "engagement boxes" in which we, the great unwashed, post our concerns for them to collect and read at their leisure. One PCSO is quoted as saying "not everyone has access to the internet, but most people will use supermarkets to get their weekly shopping." We interpret this a meaning that the internet would be the preferred means of communication, as it would save the police ever having to leave their desks. Allegedly, the notice boards in the shops will include local policing priorities - but we fail to understand how that will happen given the locations of the supermarkets involved. Another PCSO says the scheme "will allow us to focus our efforts and provide targeted policing activity." Not to mention avoiding the need to walk the streets. We shall scream the next time a newspaper headline about the appointment of the latest PCSO refers to them "pounding the beat!"
Do you know who I am? ... Weeks after it was pointed out that BBI leader Richard Austin is not only still listed as treasurer of Lincolnshire Independents, but also wrongly as the County Councillor for Boston South, he obdurately clings to the inaccuracy. Talk about a bad loser! A reader tells us that he tried to raise this point with the Lincolnshire Independents' group leader, Councillor Marianne Overton on 4th August. He was told she was abroad, and would reply on her return. He now wonders whether she's fled the country after the Independents' lacklustre electoral performance.

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