Culture "clubbed" in philistine Boston

We were amused to read the other day that if a commuter train arrives no more than five minutes late, or a long distance service no later than ten, for statistical purposes they can be deemed to be on time.
This is another of the ways that the country is steadily declining in that - instead of making the train service punctual - we massage the figures so that they appear to be.
A report to tonight's Overview and Scrutiny committee which purports to be a "Cultural strategy update" does something similar when it examines the development of the Boston strategy as part of a review of Lincolnshire County Council's current culture plan.
The report tells us that the word “culture” has many meanings, and reminds us that Boston's first cultural strategy back in 2002 quoted a wide-ranging definition adopted by the Local Government Association of South Australia (why?) concluded that culture was "everything that contributes to the quality of our lives…. one of the basic things that make life worth living. It gives our life meaning and enjoyment " which is probably true in Australia!
It goes on to tell us that many people assume culture is just about the "high" arts like the classics, fine paintings and sculptures, grand opera and drama.
But it adds that it is also about "everyday activities that are part of a healthy and active way of life. It is also about the distinctive and unique local factors that shape the places in which we live."
This opens the door to quote the Department for Culture, Media and Sport definition of cultural activity as not only the usual suspects such as arts, craft, and fashion museums, artifacts, archives and design libraries, literature, writing and publishing, heritage, architecture, landscape and archaeology but sports events, facilities and development parks, open spaces, wildlife habitats, water environment and countryside recreation, children's play, playgrounds and play activities, festivals and attractions and "informal leisure pursuits."
We're then reminded that (despite being so fat) Boston is a apparently a sporty place - performing slightly above the English average in terms of the percentage of people reporting participation in three 30 minute sessions a week of moderate intensity sport - like walking to the pub or chip shop.
This is then buttressed with the declaration that the percentage of adults who are very or fairly satisfied with sports provision in their local area is the highest in Lincolnshire and above the regional and national averages.
But, despite this, participation rates for sports volunteering, involvement in sports clubs, and competitive sport are all below the regional and national averages.
And back to the more accepted definition of culture, in terms of use of visits to museums/galleries in the last 12 months, Boston performs below the English and regional averages.
Boston figures for "engagement in the arts" have improved in the year to Dec 2009, with 36.1% of people in Boston involved in the arts, but well below the English average of 45.5%.
Key finding tell us that when asked what would motivate you to do more sport/physical activity, the top four factors were better footpaths for walking, cheaper admission,
safer roads for cycling, and Better facilities in parks and open spaces.
Do you see where all this is leading?
Because the normally perceived "culture" in Boston is all but absent, we fudge the debate to root it in sport and exercise - which is co-incidentally just what the Borough Council wants us to do more of.
Of course, the waffle in the report abounds, as you might imagine.
Try some of these quotes for size.
"Work in partnership to promote inclusion, mental and physical well being through greater engagement with cultural provision ...
"Develop a coordinated communication plan, to include advocacy and championship of cultural provision ...
"Collect research and evidence of the economic and social impact of cultural provision, harnessing existing measures and developing new approaches ...
"Build knowledge of communities, identity and sense of place through cultural provision as Boston’s population grows ..."
The list goes on, but we expect you get the picture.
We wonder who writes this stuff and - more importantly - how many people who read it actually understand it.
This is a classic example of cutting one's coat according to one's cloth.
Because we don't have much by way of "culture" we lower the bar until we find something we can include.

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