Week ending 26th February

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
Library benefits lie buried ... If we expected queues like those for the January sales, we were disappointed. Half a dozen or so people turned up as the doors opened for the new look Boston library on Monday, vastly outnumbered by a load of total strangers all wearing name badges and clearly from Lincoln who were there to slap each other on the back over the "improvement." We weren't terribly keen. Shelves have created open ended square caves of books, and there seems to be no system to the way the books are displayed. It looks as though the cash for the redecoration ran out halfway through, and certainly it didn't run to enough for that most needed category - more and better books.
Post Off is the word we'd use ... No such problem finding the queues at Boston Post Office on Monday morning. A twenty minute wait with nothing to alleviate the strain than TV presence of the gap-toothed, overweight, cardigan-clad imbecile that the Post Office thinks is an amusing and endearing front-of-house image, was all it took to reach the counter. There were four members of staff attending to a queue that reached out into the street as usual, while two or three more busied themselves between back offices pausing only to admire the delays that their absence was causing. To make matters worse, once you finally get to a counter your time (and the time of the poor devils who are still waiting) is further wasted by having to listen to and reject offers of phone services, cheaper gas and electricity or savings plans. We'd like to think that things improve after the refurbishment, but are not selling tickets on the strength of it..
Out to lunch ... We had to laugh at the unintended irony offered by the sign on the side of a police car parked next to the unexpected police community support vehicle outside Waterstones on Wednesday. In bold letters it declared "Lincolnshire Police - out on foot patrol." So what does this mean? It means that, stung by the criticism that they never leave their cars, Lincolnshire Police drive to an area that they used to patrol on foot in the good old days, then get out for a stroll - making sure that everyone knows all about it - presumably so that they can be seen "pounding the beat." It might have been our imagination, but we thought that the external state of the car suggested that it goes out on dry days for often than not.
Scam-dalous ... A helpful guide on Boston Borough Council's website warns us of the dangers of falling victim to scammers. The list of the evil types who prey on the more gullible in our ranks includes letters predicting the future, pyramid schemes, which rely on tricking as many people as possible to give support, and miracle cures. Each of those headlines could equally refer to another sort of criminal - the political fraudster. Yet strangely the BBI has somehow failed to get a mention.
Smashing news! ... AT LAST! screamed the headline on the leaflet that dropped through our door with the other afternoon's post. At last indeed! Almost a month after the service began, we are being told that the borough is finally letting us put glass in our blue recycling bin. Unfortunately the background picture on the ingeniously bottle-shaped leaflet show glass in fragments. This being Boston, we suspect that the proportion of the population which cannot read very well will spend countless hours smashing their bottles before putting them in the bin, which we suspect would be most unwelcome. And we note that householders who "continually " contaminate their blue bin "could" be liable to a £100 fine. Casting our minds back to late 2008 we recall a well trailed warning ahead of a "clampdown" due to start in February last year. We were told that if a blue bin was contaminated the bin's owners would get a letter telling them what they can and can't dump. A repeat offence would mean a second letter with a sterner warning, and a third offence meant a £100 fine - after which the offender would be taken to court. In the 16 months since, we have heard of no warnings or fines for this sort of offence. Does this mean that there haven't been any? We doubt it, and yet all we're hearing now are wishy washy threats that will surely go unheeded.
Standard at half mast ... The poor old Boston Standard totters from crisis to crisis in the spelling department - particularly where culinary items are concerned. After the other week's endlessly entertaining offering of the wholly-new word "gormey" for gourmet, the paper has not for the first time become confused over when to use the word pallet, rather than palate. See the cutting below for the latest effort.

Still, both our papers are paying the price for their mediocrity. Yesterday, figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations showed that both the Standard and the Target again lost readers. Between 29th June last year and 3rd January 2110 , the Standard averaged a total average net circulation per issue of just 10,017 - down 6.2%, whilst the Target figure was 24,618.
Coming next week ... Reaction to "The future's blight - the future's red" and news of swift move to overturn the plans to "deal with" Boston's empty shops ....

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Plans for empty shops are not enough

In yesterday's report on the refurbishment of the Market Place, we mentioned the poor state of a number of shops owned by big High Street names.
Another item on the cabinet (pictured above) agenda dealt with another evil that blights the town - the issue of empty shops ... more than 25 of them.
Once again there is money available to deal with the problem - in this case slightly more than £52,000 - part of a £3 million kitty offered by the government's communities and local government department - "to improve the appearance and vibrancy of town centres."
Last night cabinet members were asked to approve the use of the funding to deliver short, medium and long term measures.
Unfortunately, as is so often the case, our leaders puts the cart before the horse.
In this case, as it so often does, there is a name for the project ahead of any real thinking too deeply about the task in hand.
The bog-standard  name they came up with  is "My Boston."
The most and the least that can be said for it is that it comes trippingly off the tongue, but having said that, what does it imply?
"My Boston is a mess, which is why we're spending so much trying to tidy it up," is just as easy a slant as is "My Boston is a town that I am proud of."
The other thing is that even though there is money to spend, the council is taking the often used soft option to find someone to come up with ideas on the cheap.
In this case, and we've been down this route before, students (presumably from Boston College) are designing a logo to brand the project.
We really think that a professional would have been a better bet this time.
Look out for short, medium and long term measures.
The first will bring these shops up to a "common standard" by improving the outside of the shops and use of graphics to decorate the shop windows at a cost of £12,000.
Next look out for the usual suspects - the dreaded "third" sector, education and service organisations who have identified the desire to open up one or two empty shops for "community" uses.
Despite the sage words of former Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore in the Spectator this includes "the creation of a community hub and leisure/creative activities centre"
- in other words the nearest thing to yet another couple of charity shops for the town - just what we really need (unless a couple more mobile 'phone companies are waiting in the wings.) This is going to blow £30,000, and as you might expect when there is something available for nothing, there is no shortage of organisations wanting one of the shops, with the CVS have indicating that it would act as a tenant and co- ordinate activities. Oh joy!
Finally, long term measures costing £10,000 include reducing start up and operating costs to attract new businesses.
The project is due to start next month and be reviewed in a year's time - and if there's any cash left over it will most probably go to the utterly unnecessary Healthy Eating Café project.
Yet again, we fear that a good opportunity - whilst not being lost, has been diluted.
Sticking obviously junior grade art efforts over shop windows could well make the place look worst rather than better.
Encouraging more "worthy" organisations to take on a couple of shops simply adds to the general look of run down-ness of the town centre.
Charity shops in a town centre thrive because the town is declining, and to encourage more just makes matters worse. Shoppers are not stupid, and they can read the signs without a guide book. There are already more than a dozen charity shops in Boston, and in some areas they dominate the landscape.
The only nugget in all of these proposals is the idea to encourage new businesses - and if they could be different "niche" business, then so much the better.
Boston Eye says: don't hold your breath for any great improvements.
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Mini festivals could bring new life to Market Place

Tonight's meeting of the Cabinet (pictured above) is discussing a number of interesting items - perhaps the most important of them being the improvement of the Market Place.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to create something different for the town, and we hope that the £2 million that has been secured will not be wasted on doing something that is into the ordinary rather than out of it.
We've already mentioned the possibility of trying to give the Market Place a "look" to makes it resemble the area in its heyday - something that could be easily done by judicious use of signage and colours.
Having walked around the area a couple of times in recent days with the specific idea of taking in the so-called "ambiance," one of the things that strikes us most forcefully is the poor decorative state of many of the shops.
National outlets such as Edinburgh Woolen Mills, Carphone Warehouse, and Thorntons all present a run down look that we think they should feel ashamed of.
We wonder whether it is possible to impose some sort of condition on these places to force them to keep their shopfronts in good decorative order.
We also wish that it was possible to reject the clonetown shopfronts that make Boston indistinguishable and demand that something more substantial than just a grooved wooden frame is nailed around and below the window to give the illusion of age and substance.
The clone aspect is a serious one.
Hundreds of Market Places throughout the country pay the price of the "corporate identity" imposed on them by high street store chains, but there really seems no reason why this should be the case.
Other areas, which show more concern for the look of their town, refuse to let companies impose their one size fits all policy on the towns where they operate - and there is no reason why this could not happen in Boston.
An interesting report by local architects Anderson and Glenn, who have done some excellent work on refurbishment projects, paints a rather bleak picture when they illustrate how other market places in the area look.
We are worried that - at the end of the day - we will still end up with a glorified car park ... one that is marked out with stone blocks or cobbles rather than white lines, but nonetheless a car park.
One reason that tends to reinforce this fear is the collapse of the Merchants Quay project, which would have created a multi storey car park and taken the pressure of the Market Place.
Mention has been made of the Market Place as "an area to hold events" - and this is where we think there is scope for some really imaginative ideas to entertain residents and bring in visitors during the summer.
How about a series of two-day festivals through June, July, August and September?
A book festival, one for antiques, toys, horticulture, music - just to name a few?
Perhaps we could also consider the possibility of a decent farmers' market to replace the sorrowful offering that pitches up at present, and which shames a county that claims to feed the nation.
With a well constructed rolling calendar, Boston could offer something different to bring people to the town.
There is so much opportunity out there, and we just hope that those millions won't be squandered on a better looking car park than the one we have at present.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

It's them who've changed ... not us!

We were amused but not surprised to learn of the rapid disappearance of the enthusiastic welcome given to Boston Eye after the Boston Bypass Independents snatched Boston from democracy in the local government elections in May 2007.
We seem to recall running what we considered a particularly amusing headline at the time on the lines of "a kick up the bypass" for the previous council.
There was no question that the former administration demonstrated many traits as bad then as those shown by their successors now.
And despite what the BBI claimed at the time, their success owed as much to disillusion with the previous council as it did to the promise of a bypass, which most of us knew would never come to fruition.
Voters were looking for a change from a council that ignored the opinions of the electorate, frittered money away on wasteful projects that were never going to succeed and ran the borough as though it was their personal fiefdom.
Therefore it came as a considerable disappointment to find that we had elected a council that ignored the opinions of the electorate, frittered money away on wasteful projects that were never going to succeed and ran the borough as though it was their personal fiefdom.
In the beginning, it was possible to enthuse about the BBI because it was untried and untested, and started out with a blank sheet, which gave it the chance to be imaginative and creative.
However, instead of thinking about the needs of Boston and its residents, the party decided that it was elected to rule, and rule it would - without regard to the wishes of others.
Gradually, as details of the BBI's so-called style emerged, we saw that it showed total disregard for the voice of a growing opposition.
We saw childish behaviour from people old enough to know better.
We saw people who, outside the council chamber, would never let anyone to tell them what to do, bending the knee in submission and allowing themselves to be bullied by a tiny "elite" that ruled the roost.
And we've seen from e-mails that have passed across our computer screen how the leadership indulged in cheap and snide responses to reasonable questions from members of the opposition parties on the council.
What's perhaps most disappointing is that the leadership is not sufficiently adult to realise that it has to conform to certain standards if it is to receive the respect is thinks it deserves.
What's most ironic about the changed attitude of the BBI from the day they were elected and welcomed us welcoming them, is that Boston Eye is still on the side of democracy and honesty in local government - but the BBI now despise us because they have failed to recognise that they have changed beyond all recognition from the party that promised such much hope when elected to power.
Those who now slag us off haven't noticed that we are still the same people who welcomed them and their hopes and ideals to Boston two years and nine months ago. We are not different ... they are.
And if those people sit and think about it for a minute or two it won't take an effort of genius to see how far the party is now out of tune with the people who elected it, for whom we are proud act as a voice.
But there is still time to make amends.
Carlyle told us: "Of all acts of man repentance is the most divine. The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none."
And whilst we are quoting, wasn't it Thomas Jefferson who said: "An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens."

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested

The future's blight ... the future's red!

There's been a warning that Boston Eye's recent blog on our almost silent county councillors exposes real dangers for the next round of local elections.
It comes from Boston Borough Councillor Brian Rush, who represents the Better Boston Group.
"If opinions are correct, and we see the total annihilation of the BBI within the borough, could we be faced with a similarly dangerous repeat of those '07 elections?" he asks.
"Will the chamber once again be dominated by inexperienced councillors - this time from the Conservatives?
"I am certainly not recommending that voters should even consider re-electing any of the BBI - if any borough ward were to do so, it should be dug up and renamed Austin Island and cast adrift in the Wash with himself as the captain.
"So what if ... Councillor Richard Austin had stood strong when he was first elected to the county?
"What if ... election promises not been discarded so easily?
"What if ... the brave fight that was promised by his large group of so-called Independents had been allowed to 'cause shock waves in central government' and County Hall had been taken by the political whirlwind?
"What if ... he and his then borough deputy, Peter Jordan, had not underhandedly offered Martin Hill a clear run for his Boston Conservatives in county elections?
"Things may not have been any better for Boston, but I guess the people would at least have applauded such a show of grit.
"We will never know, because those cowardly rollovers performed by Richard Austin, as he spat in the face of the very people who had put their trust in him, and his Bypass councillors, was and still is a shameful act of treachery.
"So what of the future?
"Will the possible influx of new members be restricted by party manifesto?
"Will we continue to bow to the will of Lincolnshire County Council for another term?
"As potential borough Conservative councillors now begin limbering up for election success, the doorstep promise will be to make things better, locally....are we about to be fooled yet again?
"Will they guarantee that the official party line will not suffocate any hopeful aspirations for Boston?
"Will they promise to object to the banquet continuing in Lincoln, while Boston exists on the crumbs from the floor?
"Our failure to improve Boston's prospects in the past, and made worse in the last three years, was because of our political representatives' obvious weakness. Is there any sign of a stronger character anywhere on the horizon?
"Up to now I have seen no indication that our Tory, borough and county councillors have the stomach for a real battle with their award winning Leader.
"I am sure that voters will be demanding that candidates' first priority must be Boston first and foremost.
"They will be put on notice that if elected, they must always stand up for Boston.
"The reality is, and we can tell them this until we are blue in the face, but it won`t happen.
"It will not be allowed to happen, and there will be no mutiny!
"The disaster of the past three years of the BBI demonstrates what happens when councillors are bullied and gagged; Lincoln is then allowed to deliver unsuitable and majorly flawed projects for Boston, without challenge, as they have done under this sad administration.
"So I agree with you, Boston Eye, it is very disappointing to see the lack of willingness to Stand Up for Boston, and it is clear that our town gets so little consideration, unlike our near neighbours, who, even in these dire times, seem to prosper much more than we do.
"The role of a councillor - borough or county - is to serve the people who elected them. The duty of that councillor is to deliver, for the benefit of his/her electorate, a better quality of life for them and their families. This must be done without fear or favour.
"Sadly the promises will be soon forgotten, replaced by a pursuit of acceptability amongst false gods. Personal enhancement and elevation becomes much more important, this is the way of party politics.
"Even in local government, such as the borough, we see the initial willingness to represent relegated, and laid aside; award becomes the mission, even self respect is sacrificed.
"This will become very evident in the next few months, and it will be bloody.
"The Mayoral Robes 'are up for grabs.' In this, the final year of the bypassers' term of office, already an unruly queue is forming.
"For some... well one anyway, the wait has been excruciating, the discomfort of having to communicate with lesser individuals intolerable, but from what I hear there is even more pain to come ...
"Et Tu Brute!"

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Week ending 19th February

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
What's this all hub-out? ... Charles Moore, former editor of the Daily Telegraph, writing in his weekly column in the Spectator, last week conferred an interesting distinction on Boston. "Sometimes, a perfectly reasonable word turns itself into a fashionable concept, and starts to grate. We have reached that point with the word 'hub.' Everything — a city, a café, a church, a school, a website — feels the need to claim that it is a hub or, even better, a 'community hub.' One begins to long for those few places or bodies in this country which are still completely unhubby. I am thinking of Boston in Lincolnshire or Ely or St David’s, or the English Speaking Union, or the Royal and Ancient Order of Buffaloes, or the University of Wales, Lampeter, or Lydd Airport, or the Angus Steak House chain ('an institution that you can depend on.') Away with all this hubbub."
Bus-ting the highway code ... Perhaps someone at Brylaine would tell the driver of the IT1 service travelling through Strait Bargate towards the Market Place at 10-30 last Saturday morning that the correct way to control one's vehicle is with both hands on the steering wheel. It may be more comfortable to place one hand on the wheel, then plant your elbow in the centre of it and cruise along with your chin resting in your cupped hand, but it tends not to be a good idea if someone is suddenly to block the path of your vehicles. We have noted before the contempt of some Brylaine drivers towards Boston pedestrians, and it seems to be getting worse, rather than better.
More the merrier ... Recently we accused Boston Borough Council of not being particularly communicative, but we are prepared to reconsider that view in light of the steady flow of information that has recently been appearing on its website. Let's hope it's not a flash in the pan, and also that the BBI is next to take the message on board and let us know more about what goes on behind the closed doors of the Worst Street committee rooms.
Raising the Standard ... One news story missing from this week's Boston Standard was the increase in the cover price from 42p to 45p. Newspapers used to tell us in advance of price rises, but that tended to lose them listeners. Then they used to make the announcement in the edition where the price increased. Now, they say nothing and hope that people won't notice the extra 3p on the bill, which, of course, many people won't. It's a form of inertia selling, really. By the way, if you think we're making a fuss about nothing, don't forget the the increase represents 7.1 percent.  That's twice the rate of January's inflation, or three times December's, and fourteen times the current interest rate.
Memories are made of this ... A reader with a long memory brings us this amusing anecdote. "I distinctly remember the glee that was portrayed by the BBI membership regarding the hope and support shown by the Boston Eye for 'the new administration' in '07. To quote Councillor Ramonde Newell, as he gloried in their political arrival 'We all should be very proud of the constant encouragement and support we are getting from the Boston Eye, and how appreciative they are for what this change can do for Boston. All of us should look at it and pay attention to the comments made by this very important and loyal voice of the people.' I am sure that they do still  'read you' - but sadly, your reputation for 'telling it like it is' is never mentioned these days. Can't understand why."
Snow (White) now we know ... Our curiosity at references to a councillor given the soubriquet "Old Grumpy," is no more.  We learn that they stem from the full council meeting on February 8th which was held under a gagging order denying admission to the public and the press. A fly on the wall tells us that the source was Councillor Richard Dungworth, himself nicknamed "the man in black" by his peers. "He who grasps every opportunity to heap 'vomit inducing thanks' to officers for their hard work and dedication on everything they so kindly do for us, now extends this long-licking tongue to his political idol Peter Jordan, he of title and fame, saviour of Norprint and the NHS, Head of Governors of the Grammar School and other admirable roles. Councillor D. got to his feet to publicly ( except that the public was  barred from meeting) deliver more grateful thanks, and I roughly quote 'This is another good news story for Boston, as we now know the PRSA is beginning to come into profit, and the man who has helped me enormously with this project, and my portfolio in delivering the Sports Strategy, which this town will benefit from due to his highly regarded experience, Old Grumpy!'" What was intended as praise may not have been as well received as the donor may have wished. Councillor Jordan? Old  and Grumpy? Never! But wait, our picture below suggests such things are possible.

Suggestions, please as to who the other six dwarfs in the BBI may be - just a reminder, the names are: Doc, Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Bashful and Happy. Please don't kill us in the rush with nominees for Dopey.




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Plea that fell on deaf ears

If Lincolnshire County Council had been quicker off the mark, we hoped today to have brought you full details of how Boston was represented at last week's full council meeting.
However, despite being "archived" for several days, the link at last appeared, but, guess what...? It didn't work.*
We've written to the County Council to let them know, and have been told that it may be some time before things are put right.
No matter, there was so little of interest to Bostonians that we can get round the problem relying on our memories of the meeting.
Shortly before the past couple of meetings, we've urged the seven councillors who represent Boston at the next step up the local government ladder to speak out on behalf of the town and the borough.
The County Council meeting is a strange affair.
Basically it involves 77 people driving to Lincoln, nodding sagely as they acknowledge reports by the senior portfolio holders, nodding through various sets of minutes before being offered the chance to ask questions to the Chairman, the Leader, executive councillors, chairmen of committees and sub-committees, and the nominee of the Lincolnshire Police Authority - an opportunity almost always left untaken.
We don't think that it's unfair to say that meetings such as these are by and large unnecessary. They could be carried out far more cheaply and efficiently by webcam from the comforts of individuals' homes, saving huge costs in terms of mileage and the time of those involved for the majority of them to sit in silence - including six of our Boston representatives last Friday.
The only question raised came from Councillor Raymond Singleton-McGuire, who raised a point with William Webb, the executive councillor for highways.
The question was a request for a progress report after the hold-ups regarding land purchase issues for the Boston Liquorpond Street A16/A52 road widening scheme, and whether this affected or jeopardised the present tenders which were only good until the end of January?
Apparently the owner of one strip of land in question - a mere six feet wide and the length of the county council chamber according to Councillor Webb's helpful description - wants more money for it, but we were assured that this would not affect the scheme as there was always the option of compulsory purchase.
It's called the iron fist in the iron glove - something that students of the way the Boston Bypass Independents do business are all too familiar.
In recent meetings we have heard questions from just two Boston representatives - Councillor Singleton-McGuire, who raised a point at the December meeting as well, and Councillor Ramonde Newell, who popped up in December and August last year.
There are so many issues that affect Boston which go beyond the confines of the borough - immigration, economic problems, and regeneration are just three that come to mind.
For our councillors to sit on their hands every month or so, apart from rubber stamping a shedload of minutes and reports is a waste of their role as a county representative.
More needs to be done to recognise Boston's parlous place in Lincolnshire, and demands made to improve it. If councillors from the rest of Lincolnshire hear more about our needs and problems, they are more likely to be sympathetic when we ask for money or improvements and lend us wider support.
As we're already urged our county representatives - don't be backward in coming forward.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

*It looks as though we were the first to tell LCC the bad news, which they blamed on the failure of an external internet hosting company, because until then, the LCC website offered an active link that only proved broken once selected. Clearly whoever set up the link failed to take the obvious next step of seeing if it worked. Nah, leave it to the punters.

Why weren't pool rescue plans hinted at earlier?

It seems that we were mistaken when we raised an eyebrow at the news that the management of the Geoff Moulder Leisure Complex and the Princess Royal Sports Arena
has been transferred to what must arguably be one of the most criticised operators in this particular sphere.
As far as the borough's official line is concerned, "It’s all systems go for a bright new future for leisure services in Boston" - ending 18 months' work and negotiation by the council.
The borough's head of jolly good news, Councillor Richard Dungworth, portfolio holder for Regeneration, Planning, Sport and Cultural Services, said: “This is a good news story for the ratepayers of Boston." But then he thought that about the recent Audit Commission review of Boston's regeneration policies that gave the borough the good hiding it deserved.
We find it a bit odd that not so long ago, whilst the training pool at Geoff Moulder was under threat of closure, there were apparently cunning plans behind the scenes to save it - plans that had been under discussion for one and a half years.
Yet for some reason, we were left believing that the training pool was doomed ... so why weren't we told about the secret negotiations that were going on?
Probably just because the Boston Bypass Independents mafia adores doing as much as it can in secret - but why on earth this was the case with the pool, we cannot fathom.
One would think that if the council was on the brink of securing its future, it would have told us before all the protests began and the action committees were formed.
So we wonder whether things were actually what they seemed.
The other thing that confuses us is why, if the council had been in discussion for so long with the company Leisure Connection, it failed to take note of its lamentable track record in management.
With just one search on the internet, we found that Leisure Connection has for years been subject to criticism of the way it runs sport and leisure centres.
It lists 45 local government organisations with which it has contracts - several of them here in Lincolnshire - most of which rue the day that they signed on the dotted line.
The day before yesterday, we gave you a few examples of how the customers of Meres Leisure Centre in Grantham regarded the company and its services - and an undercover visit by the local newspaper that roundly condemned it.
We note that Leisure Connection is to meet with representatives of Boston Amateur Swimming Club.
We hope that when they do, the club fares better than the one in Grantham, which since 1923 has worked "in synergy" with the leisure centre. However, since Leisure Connection took over the running of the pool, the club, which receives no subsidies, has had to stump up increases of 25 per cent over three years with no room to negotiate on better pool times.
There is not only criticism from Grantham, but all the other South Kesteven owned leisure facilities.
There are other bad news stories from neighbouring South Holland, where Leisure Connection also runs services, and in West Lindsey.
We fail to understand how, after 18 months' negotiation with Leisure Connection, and the ready availability of its poor record with dozens of local councils all around the county, that Boston went ahead and issued the firm with a contract.
We now know that most of the members of the BBI who voted for the deal failed to attend the meetings where it was discussed.
In fact, as far as we can see, there is only one benefit - average annual savings to the council of a paltry £154,000.
That's after the pool has been refurbished at a cost of £2 million, and £3 million in debt held by the Boston Sports Initiative has been written off.
And on top of all that, the council remains responsible for the maintenance of the garden shed known as the Princess Royal Sports Arena.
We sincerely hope that there is still room for negotiation and that this lamentable decision can be reviewed, and preferably annulled.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Putting the other side of the story

As always, there are two sides to every story - the Boston Bypass Independent Party side, and the other version.
The recent Audit Commission inspection of the borough's regeneration plans are interpreted (by the borough) as demonstrating success.
Councillor Richard Dungworth, Cabinet member for Regeneration - fresh from walking out of a meeting of which he was portfolio holder - apparently stuck around long enough to read the commission report (we assume.)
The quote written for him on the council's website says: "I’m pleased that the inspectors have noted the success of regeneration in Boston, and that their report helps the council to focus on the key issues going forwards. (sic)
"It is rewarding for staff and members to see that this council’s focus on regeneration has been recognised and this inspection report and its recommendations gives the council a blueprint for the future.
"Naturally it is disappointing that inspectors were not more confident about our future prospects, but given the timing of the inspection and the winding up of Boston Area Regeneration Company that is understandable."
This is, of course, the point where the Chairman of the Reading Between the Lines Committee needs to take a look at what's been said and to turn it into English.
"This council’s focus on regeneration has been recognised ...." - of course it has - that's what the report was all about.
"Its recommendations gives the council a blueprint for the future ... " - it tells us what we're doing wrong and how to put it right.
"Inspectors were not more confident about our future prospects, but given the timing of the inspection and the winding up of Boston Area Regeneration Company that is understandable ... " - the inspection caught us with our trousers down.
The Audit Commission gave the council one star for its regeneration service and rated its prospects for improving to a good service as poor.
What the borough didn't say was that the Audit Commission also finds: -
A lack of a clear and consistent political vision driving regeneration and plans for what the council wants to achieve are unclear ...
No up to date economic development strategy to align plans to the changing economic climate ...
The council has limited leadership, management, staff and financial capacity which it is trying to address ...
The council and its partners have not worked well together in developing an enterprise culture, although "focus" is improving ...
The council has had limited impact in stimulating commercial and industrial inward investment and business growth ...
There has been minimal progress in enabling higher skill levels, reducing reliance on agriculture, improving pay and the added value of jobs ...
Key town centre development sites along the Haven remain either under utilised or derelict ...
Many heritage buildings in Boston remain under utilised and under invested in and there has not been effective development of Boston as a destination for cultural and heritage tourism ...
Plans for regeneration are often vague, do not focus on outcomes and targets are not SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic, Time-bound) and the borough does not have an up to date economic development strategy ...
The list goes on and on, and you can read the full report here
http://195.224.121.198/software/Audit%20Regeneration.pdf
It doesn't take a degree in rocket science to see what the Audit Commission is saying.
It is saying that Boston Borough Council - aka the Boston Bypass Independent party - is failing dismally in its duty towards the borough and its citizens, and complacently clutches at straws to find a way to make excuses to get them off the hook.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Grave doubts about company that's to run Boston's leisure services

The old saying that history repeats itself sadly looks to be true as more emerges about the privatisation of Boston Borough Council's leisure services.
Councillor David Owens has stepped up to the plate to  publicly express the grave concerns he raised at last week's full council meeting.
"Unfortunately, this matter was not discussed in public, despite my motion to lift this restriction. Equally concerning and more disturbing was the BBI's flat rejection to allow debate of this matter.
"Perhaps it can be explained as the prior week's scrutiny meeting led to Councillor Dungworth walking out of a meeting in which he is portfolio holder, thereby delaying it for three days.
"This delay left little time to get answers ready for Monday's full council meeting where the final decision was to be made. The scrutiny meeting, attended largely by the opposition, was robust and raised a number of grave concerns relating to the appointment of the preferred bidder. A number of questions were raised and answers to these were produced at the full council.
"Under these circumstances, myself and members of the opposition felt it prudent not to appoint a contract whilst there were so many questionable aspects surrounding the preferred bidder, the full detail that could only be realised by those who bothered to attend the meeting and read up on the reports and supporting information.
"I wish to make quite clear that I am very keen to see the training pool opened at once, however this contract does not allow for that.
"I wish to see good value for money and a service we can be proud of. However initial investigations point to a very disappointing history from the preferred bidder (see Meres Leisure Centre, Grantham,) and the BBI seem content to make do with what we can get!!
"These arrangements land the council with the liability of maintaining the Princess Royal Sports Arena, and have allowed the Boston Sports Initiative to write off over £3m of debt to the council. The tax payer has nothing to show for it…….scandalous.
"These arrangements by their very nature, make the ability of you, the taxpayer, to complain to me, the elected member, in order to resolve issues that a private company are directly responsible for even more difficult than at present.
"I am not convinced that there is enough power within the contract to manage robustly any shortfalls in service and standards in the event that the preferred bidder fails to deliver what the taxpayer desires.
"And finally I question - has the BBI with its voting majority delivered to the borough another DABSI* mess.
"I hope not but I am not at all convinced. "
Following Councillor Owens's steer, we looked in more detail at the Meres Leisure Centre in Grantham. It is owned by South Kesteven District Council and run on its behalf - along with the Bourne, Stamford and Deeping centres - by Leisure Connection, which calls itself "the market leader of outsourced quality leisure, cultural and fitness services to local authorities" ( but then, don't they all!)
However, local people see Leisure Connection's management of the Meres in a somewhat different light.
The local paper, the Grantham Journal, received so many complaints from readers that it took the unusual step of sending in undercover reporters at the end of last year to see for themselves.
The result was summed up in the damning headline: "The Meres Leisure Centre is branded 'a filthy, smelly, vile, unruly dive'"
The report began: "Readers are fed up to the back teeth with conditions at Grantham's Meres Leisure Centre. They say it's filthy, smelly and overrun with unruly kids.
"So the Journal went undercover to find out the truth - and showed the evidence to leisure centre bosses.
"Over the past five weeks, the Journal has gone at varying times three times a week armed with a camera and notebook to record its findings.
"We found a litter-strewn changing room, mouldy shower heads and teenage yobs running riot.
"The stench of urine in the changing room was sometimes overwhelming, the pool temperatures felt cold and the jacuzzi and adjoining splash pool were open only once."
Another report in the same newspaper told how a mother raised concerns over child safety, following a reduction in staff teaching young children to swim after managers decided to cut class sizes from eight children to six, and reduce tutors from two to one.
Even more damning is a website which collates complaints about Leisure Connection from all over the country over the past four years. You can read it by clicking the following link http://www.btinternet.com/~paul.burns/index.htm   If you then select the link to Grantham at the top of the page, read on and wait for your hair to curl!
Councillor Owens is absolutely right to express concern about the appointment of this company to look after the interests of Boston's swimmers and sportsmen and women.
Yet again, we see hard evidence of that cocky bunch of amateurs known as the BBI deciding that they know best and enforcing their decision on opposition councillors who truly have the interests of the local people at heart in the face of overwhelming evidence that their decision is the wrong one.
Not only that, but they have agreed that the borough should foot the maintenance bill at the PRSA, have written off £3 million in debt to the BSI, and agreed to blow as further £2 million on improvements at the swimming pool before gifting it to Leisure Connection.
What next, we ask?

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*DABSI. Acronym for "Disabled and Able Bodies Sports Initiative" the name used for the PRSA in the early years of its development.

Week ending 12th February

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events

Don't be backward in coming forward ... February's meeting of Lincolnshire County Council takes place later this morning. Let's hope for a full turn out from our Boston representatives, and let's also hope that they make their voices heard. They need to if Executive Councillor for Highways & Transport Councillor William Webb's report on road issues is anything to go by. He tells us that the Lincoln Transport Strategy is progressing well, as is the ongoing feasibility of a park and ride scheme for Lincoln. Then there's the good news that the East Midlands Regional Assembly Lincoln Eastern bypass has recommended priority funding for the Lincoln Eastern bypass. As if that wasn't enough for Lincoln, preliminary design work is progressing on Phase 1 of the Lincoln East West Link, and a £1.2 million scheme to restore the city's historic Bailgate is underway. Away from Lincoln - yes, there is an "away from Lincoln" aspect of the report - plans for the Grantham Southern Relief Road are ticking over nicely. And then? Oh yes, the Boston Transport Strategy - last on the list before improvements to the A1073 between Spalding and Eye."The tenders for online widening works on the A52/A16 have been returned and assessed. Contract award is reliant on resolution of the land acquisition agreement for the single outstanding plot for the scheme. Subject to land acquisition, works are now anticipated to start on site late February/early March 2010." Time to speak up, Boston. After today's meeting the next chance to rattle a cage or two will be on 22nd February at the Highways, Transport and Technology Scrutiny Committee.

Fruit and nutty ... We think that local councils have enough on their plates without getting involved in areas which are the responsibilities of others. Take reducing obesity for example. Councillor Brenda Owen, our Health Portfolio holder, tells us that the council is working with its partners to improve the range of healthy eating options in the town - including plans for a town centre "Healthy Cafe and Lifestyles Centre." Why on earth is the council getting involved in what is so obviously a commercial enterprise? The answer is perhaps because no self respecting private businessman would touch such a proposal with a bargepole - let alone a celery stick. The reason? Because it would be a money pit that would be doomed to failure within months due to lack of custom. It seems strange that having at last divested itself of the loss-leading Princess Royal Sports Arena, that the council can't seem to do without something else to waste the taxpayers' money on.

An elephant by any other colour ... Still with the PRSA, we wonder whether we will have really seen the back of this white elephant once it passes into the hands of the mysterious leading leisure company which is taking it on together with the Geoff Moulder Leisure Pool. We recall that even after the PRSA was previously "handed over" to the Boston Sports initiative, the begging bowl was thrust out time and time again - and repeatedly filled ... something which could still happen even now it has been "privatised." Time will tell, but we're not placing any bets.

"Hot" pies ... and back to obesity, we had to smile at the news that hundreds of pies were stolen when burglars broke into a butchers in Market Place. Around £400 worth of pies and cooked meats were stolen and the police want us to be on the lookout for people trying to sell the stolen food. If they eat them all, we reckon they'll be easy enough to spot - and they certainly won't be able to make a run for it! Perhaps we'll find them at the healthy cafe!

Wider still and wider ... We note that the debate is continuing into the plan to "improve" Queen Street and Sleaford road, and increasingly, the consensus seems to be that it will make no difference other than to allow more cars to sit in traffic jams than hitherto. There's still time to call off this stupid waste of £10 million pounds before the diggers move in to treat us to a year of nightmare traffic conditions.

Keep it simple ... After all the hoo-hah about what to do to Boston's Market Place, we offer the following picture as food for thought - engraved in the days when the car wasn't king. To return the area to something like this would create something that would be highly attractive to both locals and visitors alike. We've already suggested reproducing the shop signs in the style of the Market Place in its heyday along with the original colour schemes. Click on the photo below to see a larger version.

Sub Standard  (or possibly no subs Standard!) ... It's a pity that so often we have to point out slips end errors in the Boston Standard. What looked like this week's classic on page nine - placing a caption not only upside down but in reverse as well - was eclipsed by the cutting below from the what's on feature.

Perhaps the Country Gormey (Gourmet, in case you haven't worked it out,) is the sort of place that specialises in Oat Quizeen.

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Good news - we're spending £2 million on the pool , then giving it away

Further to yesterday's news about the shadowy appointment of a highly paid senior officer to Boston Borough Council, more information has been finding its way to Boston Eye.
We understand that the selection panel included former Deputy Leader Councillor Peter Jordan and Council Major (Retired) Ramonde Newell.
Apparently, the reasons given were that the massive experience in industry of Councillor Jordan, and the less obvious career talents of Councillor Newell (whose biography on the borough website refers to early employment at Boston's County Hall, teaching at Kitwood Boys School, and a spell in the army) had previously qualified them for a place on the committee ... so why change the status quo?
Some observers considered it strange that the portfolio holder for Borough finances, Richard Lenton, who is probably most likely to have contact with the new Section 151 officer, was not included on the panel. Stranger still, it seems that Councillor Lenton's lifetime role in the financial industry, and the administrative relationship that that might need to be formed with the new appointee, were also not taken into account by those in the leadership who prefer doing things the old way.
Talking of which ...
Whilst we don't doubt Councillor Jordan's industrial credentials from all those years ago, we feel that someone who is old enough to remember eating school meals at the Guildhall during the Second Word War (thankfully not the First) is also old enough perhaps  to be considered a little past his sell-by date as far as the contemporary world of industry is concerned.
There is a school that feels that whilst Councillor Jordan is no longer deputy leader he remains the eminence gris at Worst Street - something that the evidence seems to underline.
As we reported yesterday, the appointment of the new officer was treated as a confidential item on the agenda. We can see the need for this at the time - but not the need to maintain such secrecy a couple of months after the job has been filled.
On Monday night, the pink papers which gag the press and ban the public from meetings were rustling again when a vote was taken on privatising Boston's leisure services.
A fly on the wall tells us of refusals to postpone standing orders, no real examination of officer-led proposals, little regard for loyal staff or community needs, disregard of flaws in recommendations, and block voting - which is how the BBI tells the rest of the council and the electorate to get stuffed.
However, we were at least informed of the result - or the headline if nothing else.
"One of the country’s leading leisure companies" has been awarded the contract to run services at the Geoff Moulder Leisure Pool and the Princess Royal Sports Arena.
The successful bidder won't be named until the losers have been told.
The deal will lead to the re-opening of the training pool, after the borough (ie the ratepayers) stump up more than £2 million to refurbish it.
Councillor Richard Dungworth, Portfolio holder for Regeneration, Planning, Sport and Cultural Services, dubbed the deal a "good news story" for Boston ratepayers that will save the council £154,000 a year.
It may not be so for the council staff at the two centres who will transfer to the new organisation - and who probably represent some of  the savings Councillor Dungworth is chortling about.
Nor has anything been said about the massive debts run up by the PRSA - presumably they'll get written off as well.
More good news then?
And what about the useless Boston Sports Initiative? Hopefully that rides off into the sunset as well.
Somehow, we're not sure that this story has yet reached its final chapter.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Yes, they've filled the job - but don't tell anyone!

There was a prompt and informative answer to our question posed yesterday about whether or not Boston Borough Council appointed  someone to its its highly unpublicised post of Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer at its December council meeting.
The answer is "yes" - but only after the ruling Boston Bypass Independent Party treated the members gathered for the meeting to their very own Christmas pantomime. Or as Churchill famously described Russia, "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
In an e-mail, Conservative Councillor Myles Larrington writes:
"I read with interest today your article entitled “Deal... or no deal?” referring the appointment of a permanent S151 Officer. I can confirm that this appointment was filled a recent meeting of the Full Council, which was taken on ‘pink papers’ (or in secret) although all opposition councillors (including myself) did vote to hold the debate in public, but where outvoted by members of the BBI.
"This is where things then get slightly ridiculous.
"You see the S151 is a statutory appointment and therefore along with the Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service) and the Monitoring (Legal) Officer, has to be confirmed by the Full Council.
"This is despite the fact that the recommendation for the appointment comes from a committee called the Chief Officer Employment Panel, a private meeting to which only appointed councillors can attend.
"In addition, the rest of us on the council are not entitled to see the information put before the panel (for legal reasons) so we have no idea who the individual is we are appointing beyond a mere name and salary (no CV, background info, past employment records, etc)
"I can say that I raised this issue at the recent full council meeting, in addition to the fact that it took me half an hour to get an officer to reveal the proposed salary to those us not the panel! As you can see it is quite incredible officers were expecting us to appoint someone without providing councillors, let alone the public, the relevant information. It begs one to ask what has happened to the notion of transparency!
"Unfortunately, I cannot reveal the actual salary (ridiculous quite frankly, as it is public money) but it is substantially less than the figure you quote (which incidentally I also quoted at council, so thank you for that) but in my view it is still rather grotesque.
"I would also just like to put on the record that I personally voted against this appointment on the grounds that I think it is unacceptable to working Bostonians in a time of recession (when people are struggling to pay the bills) to be asked to potentially pay more council tax to provide someone with a salary like this, whilst front-line staff are being relieved.  It is frankly mad. I can only say what I said to council (and I’m happy to put on the record) which is that on an issue like this I don’t ask whether I can justify this sort of appointment to my constituents, but actually whether I can justify it to myself – which is a no. (I earn less than £200 a week from my main job, which puts these things into perspective for me!)
"I hope this provides some clarification to the issue you raised, in addition to providing an interesting insight in to the meeting itself.
"Best Regards,
"Councillor Myles Larrington"
Please note that the views expressed above are solely those of the author and are not necessarily the views of the Conservative Group on Boston Borough Council.


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Deal ... or no deal?

Back in November last year, Boston Borough Council was proclaiming a new move to get to grips with the various crises that it faced.
It advertised a new post - for a Director of Resources & Section 151 Officer at the astonishing salary of £87,500, and appointed
a company called Veredus, who are "leading providers of executive recruitment, interim management and business psychology to the public, private and not-for-profit sectors," to find the right person for the job, which had no fewer than 36 main duties and responsibilities.
The advert proclaimed that the candidate would "provide inspired and determined leadership as we strive to become a better performing council, focused on working with our partners, to secure the right outcomes for local people."
It also promised the applicant "the space to establish a new approach to efficiency and value for money that not only supports but drives transformation across the Council and the Borough."
We noted at the time the advert appeared that the only problem with all of this is that places like Boston are notoriously not known as magnets for applicants of the quality being sought, and we wonder whether this has proved to be the case.
The closing date for applications was 27th November 2009, with a meeting to draw up a long-list meeting being held within days.
Preliminary interviews were planned for the week commencing 7th December 2009 with shortlisting being done the same week and the final selection process on the 14th and 15th December.
The recommendation of the member panel was subject to ratification at the meeting of the council on 16th December, and sure enough it appeared on the agenda of a special meeting as one of two confidential items from which the press and public were banned.
However, when the minutes of the meeting appeared there was only mention of one of the two items - the creation of a personal achievement award .... the first of which is to go to Mick Dawson for his heroic attempt to get as far away from Boston by rowing boat as possible.
Not a word about the previous meeting's other business. Nothing to even say that an appointment had been made - if indeed that was the case.
The meeting started at 6-30 pm and lasted a mere twenty minutes.
The advertisement for the appointment was not easy to find -  some said at the time that its placment bordered on the secretive - and now we wonder whether in fact the job has been offered to someone, as almost two months after after the declared selection date we have heard nothing.
Perhaps someone can tell us.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

History not good enough - well, make it up!

They say that every picture tells a story ... but not necessarily a true one.
Take the BBC "Country Tracks" programme, which divides Britain up into a series of journeys that have places of interest en route.
The show on Sunday 31st January left quite a number of our readers baffled.
Presenter Ellie Harrison hosted the trip between Sutton Bridge and Sherwood Forest, taking in Boston and Woodhall Spa along the way.
In Boston she told the story of the Pilgrim Fathers.
And that's where the confusion crept in.
After a trip around the soulless Guildhall, where the wainscoting now looks like something bought off the shelf from B&Q, we took in a view of Fish Hill,  then faded into an elegant granite plaque set in the cobbles engraved with the legend "Mayflower 1620."
One of our oldest readers - Boston born and bred and now in his eighties - got in touch to say that he couldn't recall where on earth this plaque was in the town, and we undertook to find out.
We had already hazarded a guess - which turned out to be right - but before we tell you, let's look at the sequence of pictures from the programme.

The opening title sets the scene ...

And here's where we're going ...

The shot of Fish Hill takes in the cobbles ...

Then cross-fades ...

To the plaque apparently set in the ground ...

We were equally sure that no such monument existed in Boston, but we guessed that there might be one in Plymouth.
And guess what? We were right - and here it is ...

So did the BBC really subscribe to the old journalistic tenet "never let the facts get in the way of a good story?"
You betcha!
We wrote and asked Dick Sharman, the series producer for "Country Tracks," who replied quite unashamedly:
"Hello there Boston Eye Team.
"Many thanks for your interest in the Mayflower commemorative stone. The reason why you have never seen it in Boston is that it is in fact in Plymouth - where the Mayflower and the Pilgrim Fathers actually sailed from. Point of interest - Plymouth Argyle FC have the Mayflower as the emblem on their shirts, and the team's nickname is 'The Pilgrims'. Of course, that's another story..."
Interestingly, the Boston segment of the programme was the only one which did not use a local "expert" to add to the story - despite the fact that John and Judy Cammack are trustees of the Historic Bostons Partnership.
And why fake a shot commemorating the Pilgrim Fathers using footage specially shot 300 miles away  when there is a far more handsome memorial on the north bank of the Haven?

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Week ending 5th February

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events Called to account ... We're certain that it must have been a co-incidence, but we're delighted to report that on the very day that we reported Council David Owen's frustrating two-month battle to get spending on Boston's Community Cohesion Programme on the Scrutiny Committee's agenda he received the good news that it will be discussed on March 10th. He's urging anyone with the slightest interest in this to come along to the meeting, which is open to the public. Sadly, but necessarily given the management style of the borough leadership, he adds the reassuring news "there is nothing to fear." We also hope as many people as possible go along to hear how £330,000 has been spent on community cohesion so far (where? ... on what?) with an equal amount earmarked for the year ahead. Such a huge sum must surely be expected to make a massive impact on the community, but so far, no-one seems to want to account for where the money's gone in a satisfactory and convincing manner.
One among many ... An item on Boston Borough Council's website tells us: "A warning has gone out about a telephone scam involving a conman who pretends he is working for Boston Borough Council." As we've just said, looking at the current BBI line-up, we think the warning needs to be more specific!
Sense at last ... We were pleased to read that the Consideration and Hearing Sub-Committee of the council’s Standards Committee has dismissed a complaint that Councillor Raymond Singleton-McGuire breached the council's code of conduct by linking from the council’s website to his own website where there were comments about the complainant. The code says that members must ensure that council resources are not used improperly for political purposes, and the sub-committee decided that Councillor Singleton-McGuire's link did not amount to a "resource." Commonsense decrees that there could have been no other result, and again we are appalled that yet another time-wasting complaint has been allowed to take up council time and money. We don't know who the complainant was (but we could hazard a pretty accurate guess) and we hope that if he has any other complaints in the pipeline he'll now call a halt to them.
Inequality of mercy ... The Townswomen's Guild made unexpected waves earlier this week when it declared that Britain risks losing its national identity if immigration is not
dramatically reduced. Ninety-five per cent of members who responded to a survey believed current immigration levels would "cause us to lose our national identity to some degree," and 28.5 per cent said Britain should have a ban on immigration. Home Office minister Phil Woolas responded by saying: "The government recognises the impact that immigration can have on our communities. That is why only those who benefit Britain can come here." This week's court news in the local press lists nine cases out of which five defendants - two from Lithuania, one from Portugal one from Poland and one from an unspecified country pleaded guilty to drink driving, possessing a samurai sword, theft, assault and criminal damage. Perhaps Mr Wooly-Ass would like to specify precisely what benefits this motley crew are bringing to Boston. Incidentally, most of these defendants were released on conditional bail, with one getting community service, whilst an indigenous homeless defendant who stole a sandwich because he was hungry was sent to prison for three weeks.
Tuning out ... Yesterday's radio listening figures issued by the audience monitor RAJAR showed BBC Radio Lincolnshire at its lowest ebb since it began broadcasting almost 30 years ago. The station will probably blame competition, but we Boston we know very well that it is because the town is covered so poorly. Mind you, we've heard the same complaint from other parts of the county as well. Once the station was established it persuaded all the district councils to chip in with donations and premises for its remote studios, many of which are hardly used, and in these technologically more advanced time are no longer needed. As Boston needs to save money it might be worth checking to see whether or not we are still wasting it supporting a "local" radio station that is no such thing.
Overpromoted ... Boston's Target newspaper makes the proud boast "at the heart of all things local." However, a recent feature on mayor's officer Andy Lamming told us "He has also accompanied the mayor to Le Valle in France, Boston's twin city. Time for a staff refresher course, wethinks. The last time we looked, Laval was Boston's twin, and whilst there are many who might wish it, the town was still just that, and has yet to achieve city status.
Silly moo-se ... As any fule kno, the Dandy cartoon legend Desperate Dan is famous for his love of cow pie. But if ever he wants to diet and pays a visit to Boston, then the staff at the town's Heron store have a tasty offer. A tub or two of weight watcher's "moose" will most certainly help him shed a pound or two.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Into Town buses are making their mark ... literally!

They say a picture's worth a thousand words, and the one on the right certainly has a story to tell.
It was taken on a recent rainy day, because when it rains, what it shows is more obvious.
The buses that no-one wanted to run through Strait Bargate are slowly but surely making their presence felt and creating their own tram tracks in the bricks which pave the shopping precinct.
Given the amount of damage done since the service started in July 2008, we think it can't be long before major and expensive repairs are needed to the paved surface, which was, of course, not originally designed for buses weighing more than 15 tons to grind through dozens of times a day. That's before two of three passengers get on board -which in one of the fattest towns in Britain means another big increase.
Even if you take a walk along Strait Bargate in dry weather and just look at the paving, the damage is obvious - and it's getting worse.
It clearly wasn't taken into account when the brilliant idea to run buses through the pedestrian precinct was drawn up on the back of a fag packet.
But the questions now are:
Who pays for the damage?
What sort of paving will eventually have to replace the current patio-style slabs?
Will it look as attractive? Probably not if it's got to carry such a heavy load.
Add another cock up to the Boston Borough Council hall of incompetent fame.
Incidentally, we took this photo in the wet to underline our point. But another thing we noticed was how many deep pools - not puddles - of water form around the town, often due to partially blocked drains - the Botolph Street car park entrance off Main Ridge West was a classic example last week and took several days to drain away.
At the moment, we'd say that Boston has less to fear from tidal flooding and more to fear from a few days of heavy rain.

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So WHY is this such good news?

There's a lot of excitement about the fact that Boston has just got its 70th CCTV camera.
Hurrah, now there's a greater chance than ever that we'll be stared at and suspected whilst we go about our normal daily business.
The news is peddled by Boston Borough Council as "the streets of Boston have become even safer," although we're not quite sure how that works.
If you have the misfortune to get beaten up as you walk the streets around closing time, the fact that your attacker is eventually identified as you recover in hospital is surely little compensation.
We wonder whether fewer people would receive the news in the Pilgrim if - instead of having the equivalent  "70 extra policemen on the street," as the man in charge of the CCTV project boasts - the real police spent more time on the streets .
Trouble hotspots in Boston aren't that difficult to identify, so the police can't claim that it would be a difficult job.
Apparently in the 12 months to November last year, the cameras were instrumental in 709 arrests. That's a puny ten, each, per year .... a record which should not be beyond the wit of a patrolling policeman or woman.
Boston's population is a movable feast, ranging from around 58,000 to 70,000 when the immigrant population is taken into account.
Either way, the number of cameras seems excessive, representing as it does, one camera for every thousand residents - or possibly even fewer.
The irony of this apparently escapes the policeman in charge of Boston who naively claims "to many would-be offenders the CCTV cameras are a deterrent."
We entering the realm of cardboard cut-out policemen here, which is probably what's next on the agenda.
The news of the CCTV cameras comes as Lincolnshire County Council announces that it is cutting its funding of  PCSOs by a quarter of a million pounds.
PCSOs, you may recall, were meant to be extra eyes and ears on the streets in the war on crime and anti-social behaviour, but regular readers of Boston Eye may recall that Lincolnshire's entire force of 150 PCSOs issued just 15 fines between 2006 and 2008. This cost almost £10 million, which meant each fixed penalty notice worked out at more than £650,000 in public money.
Now, the promised retrenchment of PCSOs is set to take place with them setting up shop in libraries and the like to have a chat with locals about things that worry them. They will also be taking on a slew of other duties currently being done by other public servants such as trading standards and the fire service.
We are regularly accused of being anti police because of our criticism of the way Lincolnshire Police use their staff and their resources. But that is far from the truth. All we want to see is the police doing the job that they are paid for, which is getting out on the streets, providing a reassuring presence, deterring crime, enforcing public order, and - fate forefend - arresting people.
One thing that did amuse us was the location of the cameras: - four at Pilgrim Hospital and Redstone Industrial Estate, three each at Boston College's DeMontfort and Rochford campuses, two in Kirton, eleven in Fenside with the rest in the "Boston built-up area, including Daisy Dale and Wellington Road."
Did we say eleven in Fenside? Surely, it's time for a little boundary reform here. Can't we redraw the maps and slice off a bit of Swineshead and Holland Fen, stitch Fenside on to it, and cede the whole lot to East Lindsey? Sounds like it would halve the borough crime statistics at a stroke.

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"What's happening to community cohesion cash?"

Towards the end of last week we had strong words about the ideas that people come up with when there's money on the table from an outside source.
Our comments were in the  relatively minor context of bids for a share of a £10,000 community pot to improve life for people living in High Street South. We highlighted a number of projects which we thought, quite frankly, were nothing but a waste of money, and which had been dreamed up just because the cash was there, and others which involved spending on projects which in the normal way of things would be the responsibility of others.
But our concerns pale into insignificance when compared those surrounding another scheme in which well over half a million pounds is being spent.
The scheme concerned is the Community Cohesion Project, which has attracted £660,000 in government grants to be spent by Boston Borough Council over a three year period at the rate of £116,471 in 2008/09 £213,529 in the past financial year and £330,000 in the year ahead - 2010/11.
We have learned that Boston Borough Councillor David Owens has asked for the community cohesion project to be put on the agenda of the borough's Scrutiny Committee, so that it can be determined exactly what is being done with the money.
He first raised the issue with the committee chairman Alison Austin in the first week of December, rightly making the point that councillors must ensure that money is spent wisely and appropriately.
He went on to say that past and current reporting methods of how the money is spent left a great deal to be desired, and it would benefit everyone involved to open this area to view by all.
The money is not being spent solely by Boston Borough Council.
Citizen's Advice, the Community and Voluntary Service, and Boston Mayflower are among the partners in the project, and Councillor Owens is keen that they should attend any meetings that are called.
Councillor Owens feels that we need to know exactly what each recipient of funding is actually doing with the money it gets, and where new staff have been taken on to fill new roles -apparently there are at least four - what have they delivered to date and what happens when the money runs out at the end of 2010/11.
Another interesting point raised by Councillor Owens is the question of what percentage of CAB and CVS total funding comes from this cohesion fund, as he feels that it may be prudent to ensure that this fund stream meets with the criteria of the Community Cohesion Strategy set out in a report to cabinet dated in July 2008.
This said: "Performance Management is a crucial element in both ensuring that we deliver the actions set out within the strategy but also in making sure we make a real difference to our communities. We need to show that our actions are having an impact and this requires clear and consistent application of the criteria set out below and a combination of both qualitative and quantitative measures." Councillor Owens says we need clear evidence that all recipients meet these strict criteria.
His own efforts have obtained a breakdown for the past, present and future spending under this funding stream, and Councillor Owens says he is "slightly concerned" that they appear to be lacking in any real detail.
Almost two months after his first request for matters to be looked at, Councillor Owens has again asked that the subject comes before the Scrutiny Committee - particularly given the timing in relation to budget setting.
This time he has taken a tougher line, saying "I feel it is imperative that we gain a thorough understanding of how the £660,000 of taxpayers' money has and is being spent. I expect to see representation of all those parties i.e. CAB and CVS in this scrutiny and wish to see them and others account for all expenditure that has been charged under the heading of Community Cohesion."
So far the only response has been from Acting Chief Executive Richard Harbord, who says he has the matter "in mind" and will find a "convenient" date as soon as he can.
We find it strange that such an obviously important issue - involving as it does many hundreds of thousands of pounds - should apparently be so difficult to pin down, and hope that the delays and excuses for inaction are soon swept aside to that things can be properly debated and accounted for.
Another interesting occurs to us.
So far, almost £330,000 has been spent on "community cohesion." This is an incredible sum to ordinary folks like us, but we cannot for the life of us think of a single example of how and where it has been spent and how the community is now a better place as a result. Would someone care to tell us? We doubt it.

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"Change of heart - or shrouded apology?"

Our piece on Friday about former Bypass Independent Deputy Leader Peter Jordan's insistence that the party's embrace of the Queen Street and Sleaford Road "improvement" scheme came after a long series of meetings and "robust" discussions with Lincolnshire County Council to achieve a high proportion of the many changes they wanted, came not only as a surprise to us, but more significantly to Better Boston Group Councillor Brian Rush. "Can we really believe this, a change of mind by the former Deputy Leader Jordan?" he asks in an e-mail to Boston Eye..
"Or is it a somewhat shrouded, but timely, pre-apology to the people of Boston, regarding the road widening that is about to begin?
"An 18 month project, possibly causing total chaos and disruption to the towns traffic, but more importantly of little or no benefit to road users, and almost certainly damaging business prospects at this, the worst possible time.
"Councillor Jordan's attempt to placate is far too late in the day, and for him to try to claim uninformed innocence pre Election '07, as an 'error of judgment' made by the Boston Bypass Group, cuts no ice now.
"Would that the BBI ever admitted responsibility for anything would be truly unbelievable.
"This communication is typically Jordanian, in that it is he, not 'the Portfolio for Transport Issues, Richard Austin,' who controls and sets out the blurred dictum of this council; it is he that considers his reputation to be far above all others.
"Sadly so many remain to sit in awe, some feel mentally ill-equipped, and others unwilling to challenge. This is food and drink to such ego as Peter Jordan OBE.
"It is arrogance such as this that has caused untold damage and loss of credibility for the ruling group.
"Unfortunately this so called humble revelation is not as he would have us believe.
"The truth is that opposition elected members have never been privy to any new or previously unknown information that has been uncovered, nor have we been given any written or oral evidence of those numerous robust meetings and discussions that apparently took place.
"This further lack of 'risk assessment' opens yet another troublesome can of worms, and suggests the presence of secret agendas that has been prolific within the BBI. They will never learn.
"We all know that within months of the Election, the BBI. abandoned their manifesto call to reject the road widening, and Councillor Jordan remains less than genuine again with his revelations. He is no stranger to secret meetings.
"Interestingly we have heard many times his speeches regarding his past illustrious career, and how he came to achieved such greatness.
"It was, he will tell listeners, always based on planning, teamwork, respect for staff, clear attention to detail, and evaluation of risk, blah blah.
"I know, I know, 'illustrious' is not the word everyone would choose ...
"But what I cannot understand is, how he seems to have failed to employ those same skills, that he says were instrumental in rewarding him with such high office in commerce and industry?
"I think its called due diligence, that is Latin to you and I, but it's things like background research, examination of facts, inspecting minutes of meetings regarding traffic congestion problems in Boston etc. etc.
"This must be simply second nature, to one who had previously reached such dizzy heights.
"Wouldn't this type of publicly available information be considered vital, especially if one was considering planning to stand for election, evaluating information to assess the detail of using Boston's road and traffic congestion as the core element of your political platform. Or maybe he just didn't have a good team around him, that were able to do his bidding.
"Or of course I may have got it all wrong.
"This could be a genuine new approach by the BBI.
"Maybe this is the first of many admissions, and dare we say apologies, for a long list of errors.
"Could we even fantasise that they might for once refuse to be dictated to by Lincolnshire County Council!
"Would that they come up with one idea of their own that benefits the people of the town.
"Convince themselves that the unfair criticism they recieve is real and justified.
"That, instead of taking offence at 'sheep' comparisons, they take some individual actions from time to time.
"Oh! and by the way what is the point in having a ''portfolio' shepherd if the crook is used by someone else?"
Councillor Brian Rush

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