Week ending 27th November

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
Ark at this (again) ... Last weekend's Sunday Times carried the chilling headline:- "Climate change to lash Britain with tropical storms," and a graphic showed both Boston and East Lindsey districts as two of the areas most at such risk in the future. Couple this with the news that Lincolnshire County Council plans to save a puny £47,000 by doing away with its 46 flood warning sirens, and you could be forgiven for deciding to pack your bags and leave Boston sooner rather than later. Let's hope that after its recent robust stance on the need for better flood protection that Boston Borough Council decides to oppose this inane decision, or if not to demand a replacement warning system.
Time to Stump up ... One of the few delights when one approaches Boston from a distance on these dark nights is to see the Stump brilliantly illuminated - a true beacon of the Fens. We hope that there's someone out there who can find the £300 needed to keep the lights going until Christmas. Better still, we'd like to see a sponsor to continue the year-round costs, which is terrific value in terms of tourism and image benefits benefits at less than £4,000 a year. When you think how much money is wasted by the powers that be, it shouldn't be beyond the wit of the great and the good to do something worthwhile with their cash for once.
Word from the wise ... A pseudonymous correspondent called "Lincs County" writes to say:-"Isn't it time for the good citizens of Boston to revolt and send a clear message to Council Leader Richard Austin that they will not put up with any more money wasting and poor performance from the Council. It wouldn't be so bad that they haven't delivered on their central election promise of a by pass if in the meantime they had run the council in an efficient manner. There have been a succession of independent audit reports saying how badly the Council is being run and I predict another one to come in early December - look out for the CAA report. They are throwing money away - they got rid of the chief executive for an undisclosed sum, appointed an interim chief executive for an undisclosed sum and have now created a new director post (I missed this going through the open transparent decision making process!) which they are presently advertising in select (some would say secret) locations at £87,500 (more than comparable jobs in other similar sized authorities). They rejected proposals which would have saved money through working with the neighbouring authorities - as happens elsewhere. Time to call an end to a well intended disaster." This sounds like someone who knows whereof he speaks. Keep your eyes open.
Woofless war on drugs ... Daft definitions. Boston College has given police dogs and their handlers free rein to search the campus to show drugs "will not be tolerated on the site." The police dog section carried out an operation as part of its training, and Principal Sue Daley, interestingly refers to the event as "a really positive partnership." She adds: "By advising people of the dangers and potential repercussions of drug use, we hope that this will allow us to avoid it within the college, and what's more keep the college's staff, students and visitors safe." We vehemently disapprove of drug taking which is yet another Boston blight. But we think that Ms Daley is being heavy handed and demonstrating a distrust of her wards. This is not "advice. " It is insulting every student by treating them as an addict, and using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Lost for words ... Still with policing, we deplore the use of the word "Fest" to describe a night of crime in which seven cars were broken into around the town. It makes things sound quite light and jolly, when in fact many people are faced with big bills for damage to their cars and lost belongings. We rank the unfortunate turn of phrase alongside the now defunct term "joyriders" which was used to describe car thieves whose reckless behaviour often ended in the death of other innocent drivers or pedestrians. The inspector concerned should note that "fest" is short for "festival," which the dictionary defines as: "an occasion for feasting or celebration."
Acronym-onious debate ... Finally, after Monday's debacle which broke the news that any chance of a bypass for Boston was at least ten years away, we think that an oblique approach to the problem might be not to continue to press for a bypass, but instead to lobby for faster,improved access to Skegness for holiday visitors. Something on the lines of (say) a Coastal Rapid Access Pathway. The BBI could put its might behind such an idea, and then it could truthfully be said that "Boston Bypass Independents stand for CRAP."

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