More bad news for Boston

The news that Donington has been earmarked as a possible home for a planned rail freight hub, which could attract £200m of investment and create up to 4,400 jobs, generates the usual sinking feeling that one gets whenever one reads about how our neighbours in South Holland seem to have all the good ideas while we in Boston have none at all.
The idea would dramatically change the way big food firms in the area operate, and sweep lorries off the roads and on to the railways.
It's an idea you'd think someone in Boston might have come up with, especially as combining a freight interchange with a port would be an ideal distribution scenario, and the idea of driving heavy lorries off our roads would do much to improve Boston's own dire traffic problems.
But no.
Once again it has been left to our neighbours to take the initiative and team up with a firm of transport specialists to pursue the project in more detail.
They're looking at the idea of an "International Food Park" for South Holland with Donington a strong favourite.
So near, yet so far.
Boston's life story over and over again in recent years.
We have seen the highly successful Springfields Retail Outlet go from strength to strength, now boasting many extra stores and even an hotel. And parking there is a fraction of what it costs in Boston.
So attractive is South Holland as a partner, that even Boston College have joined forces with them on a multi million pound food training centre.
For reasons we never fully understood, Boston Borough Council backed out of a three way partnership with South Holland and East Lindsey to combine back office services to save money and improve efficiency.
Now Boston seems to be floundering alone in trying to generate savings from external deals.
No wonder the Audit Commission couldn't find a good word to say for it.
Ironically the news comes at the same time as the recommendation that the ill-fated Boston Area Regeneration Company (BARC) be closed following a dismal three years during which the Audit Commission hit out at its "failures of governance."
Another white elephant bites the dust.

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