Boston could spring election surprises

A General Election is not now long away, and already, Boston is shaping up to be an entertaining battleground.

Five candidates have already thrown their hats in the ring for the seat - the current incumbent Mark Simmonds for the Conservatives, Paul Kenny representing

Labour, Boston Borough Councillor David Owens for the BNP, Christopher Pain for UKIP, and an Independent named Peter Wilson.

At the 2005 election, the swing to the Conservatives was 6.4%, with the vote for Mark Simmonds up 3.3% at 46.2% of the poll, and the nearest challenger, Paul Kenny, capturing 32.1% for Labour - down 9.5%.

The result was a blow for Labour, after the result at the 2001 election saw Mark Simmonds poll 42.9% and Labour's Elaine Bird 41.5%.

Worse still for Labour, the website Electoral Calculus ( http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/index.html ) predicts the Tory chances of winning Boston 2010 at 95%, with Labour getting less than half the votes cast.

Their full prediction is for Mark Simmonds to win 50.44% of the votes, Labour to claim 24.67% followed by "minor" parties 9.32%, the Lib Dems 7.97%, and "other" parties 7.6%.

More broadly, Electoral Calculus says that if there were a General Election tomorrow, the Conservatives would be short 24 of majority - which confirms the prediction of the first hung parliament for 26 years.

And it is precisely because there is every indication that voters are finding the choice of where to put their 'X' on the ballot paper not as easy as the main parties would like to think that makes things potentially interesting.

The forthcoming election offers the prospect of sending the major parties a message from Boston in the shape of tactical voting.

As the inevitable bottom line is still a Tory win, there is no harm in voting Independent, BNP or UKIP as a way of sending a lesson.

Certainly, the main parties should not dismiss the BNP's David Owens as they did at the recent county council elections.

In June 2009, Conservative Andrea Jenkyns took the Boston North West seat with 463 votes with the BNP second on 374. At the subsequent by-election, which was forced on a technicality, Miss Jenkyns held the seat with 597 votes, whilst the BNP came within a hairsbreadth of victory with 581 - just 16 votes short of victory.

Posit a similar result at a General Election for Councillor Owens, and the media world and its wife would be heading to Boston and setting up camp to put the town under the microscope.

What would also be most interesting would be if the Boston Bypass Independent Party had the nerve to field a parliamentary candidate. After constantly telling us how wonderful the people of Boston think the BBI is, perhaps their spokesman Councillor Ramonde Newell might be the man to test the party's credibility as a candidate for the Westminster stage.

We think that there may well be some serious tactical voting, and that Boston will be the constituency to present some surprises on 6th May.

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

Silly old fakers trumpet bogus concert!

It seems it doesn't take a lot to get senior members of the Bypass Independents leaping up and down with glee.
Have they finally secured agreement for a multi-million pound road scheme that will end the traffic chaos that has blighted Boston for years once and for all?
No.
Have they found a way to fill our empty shops with thriving niche businesses that will make Boston a dream town for residents and a magnet for visitors?
No.
Is a solution in sight to rid the town of the litter that billows along our roads and streets like tumbleweed in a wild west ghost town?
No!
Well, what has prompted senior councillors such as Ramonde Newell to announce "this could be the start of something big," and Jim Blaylock to proclaim the event as good news for the people of Boston.
It's a ... music festival.
Not just any old music festival, a gathering of fake bands - or to put it in Borough Councilspeak, "a festival of top-class tribute bands" in Central Park on the August bank holiday weekend.
No one seems to consider it in the least ironic that the best the Cabinet can do is to latch on to the bandwagon of something that has as its main selling point the fact that it is fake.
Bogus big name performers such as The Fillers (The Killers,) the ANTarctic Monkeys, Kings of Lyon (Leon) Stereotonics (Stereophonics,) Blondied, Guns 2 Roses, New2 (U2), Really Hot Chilli Peppers, and the Four (Foo) Fighters could be among the bands to appear.
Reaction from the Boston Standard, where they seem to regard any combination of music and alcohol as the equivalent of Live Aid all over again, is to imply that this is an act of generosity by a private firm to "cure our summertime blues following the demise of the Party in the Park."
In fact it's no such thing, It's a money making commercial exercise run by a firm that specialises in bringing such events to small towns around the country - mostly in the Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Humberside areas.
The company rides into town on Friday, sets up, runs the concert on Saturday, and disappears on Sunday, guaranteeing to leave everywhere neat and tidy afterwards.
Another councillor on the gung-ho bandwagon, cultural services portfolio holder Richard Dungworth, said the show would bring a music event into the heart of the community allowing local people to enjoy a fun day out.
Again, the impression is of a mini Party in the Park, but this is a paid for event for no more than 1,000 people staged in an enclosed marquee in a fenced off area containing the company's own catering service providing food and booze. Lager, bitter, Magners cider red, rose and white wine, WKD Blue, Smirnoff Ice, Vodka, Bacardi, and Jack Daniels are all on the menu.
"Cultural" services manager Barrie Higham said tickets were usually pitched at between £17 and £20. Had he taken a look at the Fake Festival website, he would have seen that the bulk of the prices being charged are £15 for adults and £10 for seven to seventeen year-olds, although there is a £1.70 handling fee on top..
Whilst that's good news for our financially pressed locals, the overall news for Boston is not so good.
At it's most conservative estimate, the organisers of the Fake Festival will go home with around £15,000 in ticket money that would otherwise have been spent locally. Factor in the cost of drinks vouchers at £2.50, and even if the revellers are restrained at least another £5,000 will leave town instead of being spent locally.
Whilst it's impossible to put a figure on it, we don't think it's unfair to say that the loss to Boston will have to be in the order of £30,000.
Hypocritically, the BBI will have to rescind its by-law that prohibits consumption of alcohol in the park - but we wouldn't like to be found outside the fence clutching a tinnie, as we're sure that will remain illegal.
Don't think that we are against events like these.
We just think that the council has over-gilded this particular lily, and haven't properly considered the impact on the local economy.
Not only that, Councillor Newell is quoted as saying he thinks this event could be staged on a regular basis. Just imagine, four such concerts a year could leave the local economy more than £100,000 out of pocket.
The other irony that amuses us is the comparison with the now defunct Party in the Party. Whilst quick to point out that the previous administration is usually to blame for everything, the BBI has given no credit to the old administration for coming up with the idea in the first place.
Although it had passed its sell-by date by the time the BBI put it out of its misery, it was not before our new rulers failed to notice that the event lacked cancellation insurance when it was called off due to bad weather - costing the taxpayers a fortune - that it finally died the death.

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There are lies, damn lies - and the bostoninnies!

The Boston Bypass Independents have another blog - a piece of scorching pomposity that will challenge the credibility of even the most gullible reader.
To use an Americanism, it snuck into existence on February 28th, but appears only to have come to public attention last Friday, when a series of incredulous e-mails from readers set our inbox bell jangling as though there was another high tide on the coast of Lincolnshire.
We're somewhat baffled by the use of a Communist propaganda poster as the lead illustration on the page captioned: "The elite want Boston back. We're waiting. Vote BBI."
But bafflement turned into mirth when we read what we assume is the BBI's mission statement.
"The Boston Bypass Independents are the most successful politically Independent group at local level in England, Boston is the sole Council of its type not held by some combination of Establishment Parties. Boston and the BBI are proof that the people of Britain do not need to be told what is best for them, their community or their nation by any political elite. That they are, at the very least, as capable of running their own councils and communities as those that seem to think it is their God given right to rule."
And later on we are informed "In 2007, Boston was a 'Rotten Borough,' run by a coalition of the main National Political Parties. Over one third (11) of those returned as Boston councillors in 2003 received not a single vote from their electorate. They and the previous administration had sold the Borough’s 'Silver,' in the form of Boston’s council house stock for some £40 million. Much of that had been squandered on 'White Elephants,' including Dabsi/PRSA, the Haven Gallery and the Enterprise Centre."
But bafflement-cum-mirth became confusion at the amount of space devoted other independent organisations which have nothing to do with the BBI.
Congratulations are offered to Councillor Marianne Overton, who is standing as an independent for the Sleaford and North Hykeham constituency in the forthcoming General Election.
And a link is provided to the Independent Network website, which promotes and supports independent candidates and non-party politicians.
And without explanation, we are treated to a photo captioned "Rebel Alliance" which identifies the subjects as "Councillor Daniel Simpson, Councillor David Suiter, Councillor Marianne Overton (prospective MP for Sleaford), Martin Bell OBE, Councillor C Brewis and Councillor Richard Austin (BBI.)"
But the preposterous report on the council's budget meeting brings us back to earth with a bump, as the BBI resorts to its policy of adapting rather than adopting the words of Abraham Lincoln and assuming that it is possible to fool all of the people all of the time if you keep spouting the same rubbish for long enough.
As we said earlier, the BBI has another blog.
It was born on the 12th May 2007 and died on 29th May after just five postings, despite the promise of regular updates.
It still lists the BBI councillors as including a couple who succumbed to the demon drink, and others who have left to form opposition parties or be truly independent, who we are surely less than happy to find themselves still listed as BBI members.
Despite the emphasis on association with "independents", and the oft-declared statement that all the party's councillors are individuals who are as free as the air, the truth is quite the opposite. The votes of its membership are dictated by a handful of senior figures, who tell the rest when to vote and what to vote for.
The illustration on the party's new blog of the muscular be-medalled Soviet heroine shielding her eyes from the sun as she gazes across a wheat-field against a backdrop of a busy waterway straddled by massive electricity pylons is evocative of the days of Stalinist five-year plans and the midnight knock at the door after which whoever answered was never seen again.
And the spirit lingers on in the blog's attitude to democracy.
You are free to comment.
But a message if you try to do so proclaims that "Your comment will be visible after approval."
This has particularly annoyed Independent Councillor for Swineshead and Holland Fen, Richard Leggott, who wrote to Boston Eye to say: "I have recently tried putting some comments which, seemingly, are invited on the BBI blogspot - but guess what?
"Comments have to be approved (by whom is not defined) before they are allowed to appear on site.
"Has 1984 returned?
"So anyone with any criticism of BBI who wants to blog it, save your effort and send it to Boston Eye instead.
"It would seem our present rulers are a bit touchy about any question on the lack of BYPASS, closing toilets and training pools, and investigating matters PRSA.
"Who gave permission to use pedestrianised Strait Bargate as a 'rat run' for buses (BBI), whose plan was it to turn off traffic lights and widen some roads (last administration,) a series of very poor audit and inspection reports (all BBI's) - these items, and more, seem to raise a great shield of embarassed silence from BBI.
"Their inability to raise funding enough to keep some services available to the public or finance our own developments - not a peep!
"As for 'their' future plans, most appear to be a catalogue of other agencies' ideas for our town which BBI would like us to think will be their very own.
"I wonder why they were unable to approve my comments.
"Probably an exercise in ego damage limitation!"
If you want to read the BBI's latest assault on truth and commonsense, you can find it by clicking here - http://www.bostonindy.blogspot.com/  Please make sure you type the address correctly, as the temptation to spell it "bostoninny" may be overwhelming!

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 26th March

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
Play on ... lots of whooping about a Party in the Park type revival in the news this week. But the bottom line is that it turns out to be nothing more than a paid for concert limited to a thousand seats. Interestingly, there's also mention of "refreshments" aka a beer tent. So once again, will the council will be putting on its other face and lifting the ban on drinking in Central Park ...? We expect so.
Booze hounds hounded ... Meanwhile, another band of lemon-sucking citizens want to extend the current no-sip areas to embrace the town as a whole. We all know of Boston's permanent place in the history of Puritanism, but effectively to introduce prohibition to the town seems to be going a bit too far - especially at this idea is the fancy of no more than a handful of people. A lot more could be achieved with a selective education programme aimed at a core group of transgressors, rather than using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Bright idea ... Congratulations to the powers that be at Boston Stump for an ingenious plan to keep the church illuminated by switching the light on for special events such as a birthday or anniversary. At just £25, it's an affordable and unusual gift. And if it keeps the church lit after dark, then it will be doing something that the Borough Council refused to do for a paltry £4,000 a year.
Whack-O! ... Mayor elect Peter Jordan's profile recalled his schooldays at Tower Road primary, whose headmaster "Boss" Comer is memorialised in the naming of Boston's Comer Close. A contemporary of Councillor Jordan's, who, being a few years older, recalls giving him the odd cuff around the ear, remembers the boss with something less than affection. In those straitened times if your parents wanted you to go to Grammar School, they had to buy exercise books and ask the teachers to set homework - as a sort of entry certificate. One child who was assumed to have been born out of wedlock because his surname differed from that of his mother, was always called by the name that he didn't go under in what today would be seen as a particularly malicious abuse of office - and our correspondent says that the "Boss" seemed to enjoy picking on lads who were less than bright, and was seldom less than severe with the beatings he administered.
Falling Standard ... some odd stuff in our local papers this week Turn to page seven for your chance to win one of 10,000 tickets to Grand Designs and you'll find a page of text blown up so large from a tiny original that it's unreadable. Never mind, the tireless newshounds tell us all there is to tell when "The Standard finds out more information..." on Mayor elect Peter Jordan. Pity that it just the handout provided by the Borough Council, rather than a real interview with someone who's done so much to promote the town. Never mind, half the paper seems written by either the council or other branches of the great and the good. One final point. At a time when real comment is urgently needed on life in Boston, how come whenever the Standard posts a story under the "Comment" block, it's always a piece by a financial adviser?
Gobsmacked ... Letter writer Gary Skipworth of Fishtoft lavishes praise on the Boston Bypass Independents. He tells the Boston Target that he, like many others, was delighted at their election victory and thinks that they're doing a good job. Just as we were wondering what he was smoking, and where we could buy some, he was honest enough to admit that "My very small knowledge of local politics comes only from the excellent weekly reports in your newspaper." 'Nuff said!
Calling time ... It's now week three since the Sheridan-Shinn challenge to the writers of Boston Eye to identify themselves, or he would. Time to deliver, Mike, or it this just another Lib Dem broken promise?

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

Life imitates art

The massive biography on Boston's mayor-elect Councillor Peter Jordan, which has appeared on the Borough Council's website, seems to be a classic case of life imitating art.
Sixty nine sentences in 45 paragraphs running to almost 1,200 words must make this one of the longest pieces ever posted on the borough site.
Amongst his interests, Councillor Jordan lists the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan - in particular, HMS Pinafore - which is where we found our comparisons between life and art.
Who, for example, could fail to identify our next Mayor from this description:

"His foot should stamp,
and his throat should growl,
His hair should twirl,
and his face should scowl,
His eyes should flash,
and his breast protrude,
And this should be his customary attitude."

Who said that? Gilbert and Sullivan, in HMS Pinafore.
And even Councillor Jordan's biography seems modelled on another G&S hero from that same operetta.
Condensed, it tells the story of a boy born to hard-working parents with no privileged silver-spoon upbringing, whose wise old mum told him “Have a trade, son, and you’ll never want." Aged 16, he begins training with Fisher Clark (later Norprint) and during the next 44 years becomes a work study expert, then climbs the career ladder as supervisor, department manager, works manager, production director and managing director of Norprint.
Again, life imitates art for the man who takes on the job of Mayor, which along with it carries the title of Admiral of the Wash!

When I was a lad I served a term
As office boy to an Attorney's firm.
I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor,
And I polished up the handle of the big front door.
I polished up that handle so carefullee
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!


As office boy I made such a mark
That they gave me the post of a junior clerk.
I served the writs with a smile so bland,
And I copied all the letters in a big round hand--
I copied all the letters in a hand so free,
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!

In serving writs I made such a name
That an articled clerk I soon became;
I wore clean collars and a brand-new suit
For the pass examination at the Institute,
And that pass examination did so well for me,
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!

Of legal knowledge I acquired such a grip
That they took me into the partnership.
And that junior partnership, I ween,
Was the only ship that I ever had seen.
But that kind of ship so suited me,
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!

I grew so rich that I was sent
By a pocket borough into Parliament.
I always voted at my party's call,
And I never thought of thinking for myself at all.

I thought so little, they rewarded me

By making me the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!

Now landsmen all, whoever you may be,

If you want to rise to the top of the tree,

If your soul isn't fettered to an office stool,

Be careful to be guided by this golden rule--

Stick close to your desks and never go to sea,

And you all may be rulers of the Queen's Navee!

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

Slating for cops in government report

We take no pleasure in being right about things that we would rather be wrong about.
For years now, we have been critical of Lincolnshire Police - about everything from its lack of presence to its attitude towards the public that it "serves."
Just recently, the force bumped up its share of the council tax and announced that the extra three per-cent will provide an extra eight neighbourhood police officers and two additional detective constables.
It's a start, but still a drop in the ocean.
A picture is worth a thousand words, so here's a snapshot of the "report card" produced by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary which ranked Lincolnshire as one of the three worst performing forces in the country.

HMI Zoë Billingham lists important areas for improvement. "Levels of robbery and violence with injury increased last year and burglary rates are above the peer average. Detection rates for violence and car crime deteriorated last year and are worse than in peer forces. Burglary detections show no signs of improving. The force’s inability to identify repeat or vulnerable victims of anti-social behaviour easily and effectively, and to provide the most appropriate response at the first point of contact, is a concern."
You can read her full report by clicking http://www.hmic.gov.uk//MyPolice/Lincolnshire/Pages/PoliceReportCard.aspx?BCUID=0&ForceID=23
Meanwhile, Lincolnshire Police have announced that the five East Midlands police forces are considering working more closely together in a move to save money.
The goal is described as "collaboration not merger."
The forces involved in the talks are Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Derbyshire.
Oh, and guess what, going back to that list  of the three worst forces in the country,  the force named as the worst   is ... Nottingham.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.


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Now jobs we need are under threat

Boston apparently faces a new employment crisis after the news that the town's college has turned away seven hundred would-be students this year because of budget cuts.
Figures obtained by the BBC show that some further education colleges in England face a loss of a quarter of their adult learning budgets.
And a report on yesterday's Today programme on Radio 4 said that the situation was so acute that many more colleges like Boston say they'll have to turn hundreds of potential students away.
Courses such as construction, hairdressing, literacy, numeracy may all have to go - at a time when politicians say that the country must have the best possible skills to get the economy growing again.
A report by the BBC's Education Correspondent, Gillian Hargreaves, quoted a 53 year old woman who had sold up and moved to live in a caravan in Boston to retrain in hairdressing as an adult student. She said she wanted to turn her life around and learn a skill, but had already found it difficult because there hadn't been as much funding as there could have been. Worryingly, she may turn up on the homeless and unemployed lists.
The report went on to stress how Boston College was vital to the local economy, and as usual  for the BBC came up with some tritely damning words to sum up the town for the benefit of outsiders.
"In a place where 40 per cent of adults have no qualifications at all and where low wages and low aspirations are the norm , learning new skills - or learning any skills is vital."
"But the college is facing a 20% cut in its budget and has already turned away 700 applicants for courses."
Half of all Further Education institutions face a 16% cut in their budgets but 48 will lose a quarter, which puts Boston somewhere in between.
College Principal Sue Daley, saw what was going on as part of public sector cuts, and said that they would cope with them.
Her concern was for individuals who would not get the service that the college wants to give them, and businesses in the area who are going to find they're not going to get the same level of skilled people.
Our concern is how these cuts operate.
Boston College is famous for the number of overseas students that it enrols - most of them from China, who pay a high price to study here. We are sure that there will be no refusal of applicants from these sectors.
But who are the 700 people who have had the door slammed in their faces?
These are the people living locally, who want to drag themselves up by their bootstraps, and try to earn an honest living in the town in which they were born, and who now may have no other choice than to join the local dole queues.
We need to fight the corner for these people if Boston is to have a chance to get back on its feet.
Although £53,000 is a drop in the ocean as far as a 20% cut in budgets for Boston College is concerned, it represents the amount of government grant that Boston Borough Council plans to fritter away on its puny MY BOSTON project to wage war on unsightly empty shops which blight the town centre.
We need some joined up writing here.
We need to work out how to do what's best for Boston, rather than waste time and resources when worthwhile local people are being thrown on the scrapheap.

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"We need to show Boston is open for business"

The hopes we expressed that last week's Performance Review & Governance Committee might have the good sense to reject the Borough Cabinet's lightweight and obvious plans to spend almost £53,000 to address the blight of empty shops in the town centre, were sadly dashed - but not until after what sounds to have been an interesting meeting.
Better Boston Group member Councillor Brian Rush was in the chamber, and was kind enough to share his thoughts on the proceedings.
"In the Pocket Guide for Public Scrutineers, the first of the Four Principles of Good Scrutiny suggests: 'Good scrutiny provides critical friend challenge to executive policy and decision makers.'
"It seems that Councillor Dungworth and the officers he is assisted by see only one word in this statement - that is 'critical.' Not a word that sits comfortably with any of them.
"The discussion regarding the call-in on 'Empty Shops Funding Grant' displayed a dramatic turn of events in that Councillor Sheila Newell has at last questioned something.
"The sad thing is that the voice may have been female, but the wording sounded suspiciously spouse-like..!
"Of course this was probably due to the worry that an Audit Commission representative would be present, and the normal deadly silence of BBI Scrutiny Panel Members might be considered, by them, to be unchallenging.
"So if this was a contrived action, then it is also time for them to recognise the damage being regularly done to their group from the confrontational actions of one Councillor Dungworth.
"His body language and angered verbal responses to questioning shows just how inadequate he is as an executive Cabinet Member.
"His recent 'racist' comment to another member shows only to clearly how disturbed he is when challenged.
"His reputation of ignorance grows at every meeting, his constant fielding of questions asked directly to him, are immediately redirected to attending officers; this does nothing to inspire confidence in the depth of his 'knowledge' regarding his portfolio.
"The call in was instigated only to ensure that best and most effective use was being made of the funding. This is a duty of democracy.
The Opposition members on the panel made it very clear that they all had great respect for the work done by community organisations, but questioned whether giving prime commercial space to another organisation such as this, would somehow encourage and reinvigorate our town centre.
"It seemed that yet again we were to adopt a lazy and unexciting attitude to this windfall, and that would have been unacceptable.
"The Chairman moved the meeting on to conclusion after Councillor Myles Larrington sought to examine the possibility of alternative suggestions that might be on offer.
"I did have one, and accept it may not be ideal, but it also might have sparked a few other suggestions.
"Through the combined use of the resources within Business Link, Chamber of Commerce, and partners within the struggling Enterprise Centre, we could have sought applications from aspiring fledgling retail business, and through a detailed selection process, found one or possibly two that appeared to have real potential, and based on such promise, presented them with a twelve month occupancy on the offered terms.
"With a little work and encouragement, (or a bit of begging) the project could have 'engineered' assistance from right across the commercial field for product, supplies, and services. (Their payback would have been publicity)
"Given the right profile, media interest could have been mustered, thereby advertising the MY BOSTON theme.
"We would hopefully have assisted in the creation of another employer, and as suggested, this is a pilot scheme; next year we may have been in a position to repeat the exercise.
"If nothing else it might have given a little indication that Boston was Open For Business.
"Will the scheme now going forward do so? I hope so - we`ll just have to wait and see."
Brian Rush

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Week ending 19th March

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
Sticks and stones II ... After last week's blog on the rumpus over Councillor David Owens's description of BBI members as "buffoons," we received an e-mail from Councillor Martin Clarkson, whose reaction to the jibe was to invite Councillor Owens outside for "a chat" - which we interpreted as being a precursor to something possibly more aggressive. "Dear Editor," he writes, "I come from a different cultural background to you. I can see how 'chat outside' can be misconstrued to meaning a violent confrontation. However, that was not my intention at all. I felt I needed to put my thought processes across on a one-on-one outside, instead of across a council chamber. That to me would have been sensible in light of all the contention being displayed by various parties at the time. Regards, Councillor Martin Clarkson" That's cleared that up, then - although we are baffled by the reference to "cultural background," which we take it is an assumption that we are from the pond life end of the spectrum.
A salt and battery ... An entry on its website last week trumpeted: "Boston Borough Council’s emergency planning procedures swung smoothly into place when a suspect package was discovered at Boston Docks." The council’s community safety team turned the Assembly Rooms into an evacuation centre for residents of Scott House disabled living centre, Skirbeck Road, Rose Place, Alfred Street, Charles Street, Muster Roll Lane, Drakard Lane and parts of Daisy Dale. The council said the "real-life incident" was a test for its emergency procedures and proved them up to the job. The "suspect package" turned out to be nothing more lethal than a battery, and, given the high security at the port, we wonder how much effort was made to determine its nature before the council went gung ho. We were reminded of the time last year when the town centre was closed after a "suspicious object" in a phone box turned out to be nothing more sinister than a BT automatic deodoriser. It's good to be prepared, but we can't help feel that the need for the exercise possibly drove events more than the likelihood of a real emergency.
Celling us short ... Three prisoners - one of them a triple lifer with a conviction for rape and 134 other previous convictions - stroll out the doors of the North Sea Holiday Camp - laughingly referred to as an open prison. How open can you get? Time and again we read about prisoners walking out of this place, yet no one seems much bothered at preventing it from happening again. Even worse, in the case of two of the prisoners who absconded last week, the Ministry of Justice refused to reveal the offences for which they were sentenced. This is disgraceful, and should be challenged. Boston plays host to many prisoners from North Sea Camp who work in the town as part of their rehabilitation, and so we deserve to be warned when a possibly dangerous escapee is in our midst. We think it's time for a chat with the prison service and a request to offer a better standard of security.
Returned to sender ... It seems we were not alone in our criticism of a recent letter in the local papers from Councillor Ramonde Newell, chortling about the "achievements" of the BBI to date. Our take on the letter was that it was "less of a paean of praise to the achievements of the BBI, but rather more of a limp apology for taking so long to achieve so little." Councillor Newell's single letter drew two replies - one asking where he got his rose tinted specs from, and the other pointing out that various watchdogs have given the council very bad reports on many fronts, and asking "to be honest, are you as good as you make out?" Doubtless, Councillor Newell will be tempted to respond, but we would caution against it. His attempt to treat the electors as fools is rebounding. These letters are from ordinary people who refuse to have the wool pulled over their eyes. And let's not forget for everyone who expresses an opinion in a letter to the editor, there are probably hundreds of other who feel the same but can't be bothered to write. If the BBI cannot do the job, it should keep its head down, and hope as few people as possible notice rather than dabble unsuccessfully in the black art of spin.
Post not haste ... Talking of this sort of thing, we paid a visit to the letters to the editor section of the Boston Standard website the other day, and were surprised to find no entries later than last autumn. How about an update so that the letters page is more of a current chamber of debate and less of a tour of the Dead Sea scrolls?
Let's hear it then ... It's now two weeks since Lib Dem wannabe Mike Sheridan-Shinn announced that he had identified the writer(s) of Boston Eye, and offered a reward to anyone who could guess. He challenged us to "out" ourselves - or he would. We'll, we're not going to Mike, so we think it's time to put up or shut up, before you make yourself look a bit silly. Incidentally, if correctly identified, we will cease blogging immediately - so there's a challenge!

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

Damning without faint praise

The Audit Commission is endlessly crossing the T's and dotting the I's in its reports on the standards achieved by local authorities.
It's just up dated its annual audit letter which summarises the findings from its 2008/09 audit for Boston Borough Council, where, or course, they specialise in crossing the I's and dotting the T's.
The report identifies weaknesses in the council's arrangements to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources It confirms its conclusion that Boston Borough Council performs poorly, and goes on: "This is because of the lack of leadership provided by the council until very recently and a lack of capacity at a senior level. In recent years plans have not been completed when expected, there has been a track record of services not being planned properly and the needs of local people have not

been taken into full consideration.

"Performance does not meet the council’s own targets and the process for managing performance is not fully used or enforced.

"Unless capacity at a senior level is addressed and scrutiny is enhanced, further improvement will be difficult to achieve."

Using the Audit Commission’s current four point scale of 1 to 4, with 4 being the highest, and Level 1 representing a failure to meet minimum requirements, Boston scores 2 for managing finances, and 1 each for "governing the business" and managing resources.

The Council performed poorly within six sub themes on the Use of Resources assessment.

The District Auditor Chris Wilson says: "I have reported these weaknesses within the Annual Governance Reports and given an adverse value for money conclusion because of inadequate arrangements for: the Council having a sound understanding of its costs and performance and achieving efficiencies in its activities; the commissioning and procurement of quality services and supplies, tailored to local needs, to deliver sustainable outcomes and value for money; producing relevant and reliable data and information to support decision making and managing performance; promoting and demonstrating the principles and values of good governance; managing its risks and maintaining sound systems of internal control; and planning, organising and developing its workforce effectively to support the achievement of its strategic priorities.

On its organisation assessment, the council scores 1 out of 4 both for managing performance and use of resources, having only reached 55 per cent of the targets it set itself in the last year.

"A lack of clear political direction is affecting key decisions being made properly."

The auditor's letter has been discussed and agreed with the Chief Executive and the Section 151 Officer and will be presented this letter at the Performance Review and Governance Committee on Thursday.

The natural response of the ruling Bypass Independents is, or course, always to blame the previous administration.

Not wanting to spoil their game, but we thought that the Commission's report on Boston Borough Council in October 2004 made interesting reading.

The headlines are:

"The council delivers some good quality services to local people, such as street cleaning, refuse collection and homelessness services.

A focus on regeneration in the borough has been successful, bringing new developments and businesses into the area and also enhancing the environment..

The council has a sound financial base, is successful at attracting external funding and is putting the right things in place for future improvements.

We find it incredible that so much good work can be undone so quickly!

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

Still time for Boston to shine

We warned that this would happen.
When Boston was awarded almost £53,000 in government money to help attack the blight that empty shops in the town are causing, it decided to split the cash three ways.
The lion's share - £30,000 - is to go on "the creation of a community hub and leisure/creative activities centre" run by a member of the "third sector" - ie a charity organisation, in this case the Community and Voluntary Service. Don't you love the way the jargon is piling up this early in the tale?
This "hub" will be in the former Sketchleys and adjoining Card Fayre shop, which have been let for a peppercorn rent of £1 shop year.
While this part of the project is underway, a short-term plan costing £12,000 will see the windows of empty shops in the town centre decorated with vinyl graphics of images of Boston created by local people - whether photos, drawings or paintings, which will then be used as an art display when the hub opens. It's not clear whether this means that the empty shop windows will re-emerge or not.
The third part of the plan is the most important, and therefore, as we are in Boston, gets the least money - £10,000 to help reduce start up and operating costs to attract new businesses.
All of this is being done under the slogan "My Boston," and will be illustrated by a logo designed by students at Old Leake’s Giles School (see below.)

It's bright. It's eye catching. It's obvious.

But, less exciting is the way the project is being run.

Involve the local council, the equally irrepressibly lacklustre Boston BID, and a bunch of local charities, and you create a recipe for spending money to least effect.

Without denigrating the skills of the locals, we feel that somehow a mish-mash of photos, paintings and the like will look little different to the posters for circuses that usually adorn the windows of empty shops.

Once again, Boston has been set a challenge, and has failed to meet it. Its solution to the problem is dull, lacking in imagination, bog-standard, and pathetic. A bunch of the great and the good of the town are doing what they do best.

Contrast what's planned here with the situation in Whitley Bay, where the council and chamber of trade faced the same problem of empty shops.

One of them looked like this ...

But simply by using cost effective vinyl, it was turned into this ...

... a faux delicatessen, with promotional material suggesting to would be entrepreneurs that a shop such as this would be most welcome.
There's still time for Boston to think bigger -but somehow, we don't think the phrase is in the vocabulary of the powers that be.
The only light on the horizon is an application to  tomorrow's meeting of the Performance Review  and Governance Committee to call in the cabinet decision on this and put it before the full council, for proper discussion. Let us hope the appeal succeeds.


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

Google puts Boston on the map

As if by magic, Google's street mapping facility has suddenly included Boston, which changes the way that everyone views the town and surrounding villages.
No longer can estate agents get away with a carefully framed shot that makes a house look idyllically sited.

Home in to it on Google, and you can see what's in the street, as well as what's opposite or behind it.

See what we mean below with this view of a development in Alfred Street ...

From the front ... hmm looks nice ... almost rural ...

Let's see what's down the street ...

And opposite ...

Perhaps we'll look elsewhere.

For local councillors it's a boon as well, as they can now get an overview of an area without the need to visit.

So how does it work?
Follow this simple guide to get you going.

Click on Google Maps

Find the little yellow man at the top left hand side of the page ...

Drag him with your mouse (hold the left button to do so ...) and the streets that you can visit are highlighted.

Drag the yellow man to a street and a broad clue to your location appears ...

Drop the man in the road, and you are at street picture level, and you can move along the road by clicking on the arrows.

Hold down the left mouse and adopt a rotating motion to change your point of view.

It sounds complicated, but you'll soon get the hang of it. To move along the road, click on the arrows on the central white line. Click on any of our photos to enlarge them, then the back button to return to Boston Eye.

Enjoy your virtual tour of Boston ...

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

Blog link ban starts council row

A war of words has broken out after internet links from Boston Borough Council's website to blogs and social networking sites run by councillors were severed on the orders of Interim Chief Executive Richard Harbord.
In an e-mail to all councillors, Interim Communications and Marketing Manager, Andrew Mallkin, says the Chief Executive's decision was taken because of the legal position concerning the risk of libel.
The e-mail includes a blood-curdling explication of what constitutes libel which alone would be enough to terrify even the most humble diarist from ever putting pen to paper again.
At present, only two borough councillors blog, whilst a third was intimidated from doing so by a frivolous complaint made by a local politician who holds no office.
The decision to cut the links has angered prolific council blogger Raymond Singleton-McGuire, who has branded it ridiculous, pointing out that publishing a link to a blog is no different than publishing a telephone number.
Councillor Singleton-McGuire, the Tory representative for the borough's Coastal Ward and the county's Fishtoft Division, asks " in the same vein as you
have given reason for removing Blog links, I question whether you are going to be removing phone numbers as well?"
The councillor, who has copied his e-mail correspondence to Boston's MP Mark Simmonds, asks for the move to be reconsidered and the links reinstated before he takes the issue up with the Government Office and Local Government Association.
In a subsequent e-mail, he points out that the Borough's Standards Committee have already ruled that blogs are the personal property of the individual Councillor
and in no way representative of the council's views, which means the council cannot be held to account.
"By your very actions of disconnecting or removing the link ... you have created a situation disbarring a Member or Members of the Council from Freedom of Speech. My blog has been established for a year and I now have a paper trail of how many referrals I get from my link with Boston Borough Council, which I am informed adds significant weight to my case.

"I have also been advised on the basis of your email and the aforementioned it would be a consideration for the basis of a Complaint against either yourself or indeed Boston Borough Council for taking such action."
All of this might be considered a storm in a teacup were it not for the fact that Boston Borough Council's ruling group, the Bypass Independents, have an almost pathological obsession with secrecy.
Indeed, last week's meeting which elected the mayor for the coming year carried out the ballot in secret. Selection of the mayor has been going on in Boston for centuries, and we can recall no time in previous years when it has been turned into such a clandestine affair. Then reason was obvious when the voting figures emerged, as they showed that yet again the BBI was using its majority to steamroller its candidate and was hoping that the public would not find out.
As far as the argument put forward for cutting the links to councillors' social networking sites is concerned we could perhaps find it acceptable if Boston's action was in line with others. But Lincolnshire County Council and other Lincolnshire district councils all seem happy enough to publicise such links.
And as long ago as 2007, a report of the Councillors' Commission, published by the Department for Communities and Local Government, specifically mentioned blogging and its importance as a communications tool.
It said: "As part of their corporate communications strategy, local authorities and councillors should promote the role of councillors using a range of communication tools, for example by: a) Using the media and communications resources of the council to work to build positive relations with the local media; b) Making use of council newsletters and other media publications; c) Harnessing technological solutions – such as email, web 2.0, blogs and texting – to make councillors’ activities more visible.
Councillor Singleton-McGuire is noted as a blogger who is highly critical of the controlling group, and we are sure that the corks on the Sanatogen Tonic Wine have been popping in the cabinet room since his wings were clipped by this arbitrary action.
How much better if the Interim Chief Executive had opted to treat the elected members as adults (yes, we know it's not easy in some cases) and written to them to warn that a highly remote pitfall of blogging could result in the threat of a libel action and therefore to exercise caution. Instead, he has acted dictatorially, without consultation, and let another officer to do the dirty work and take the flak.
Once again Boston stands out from the rest not for good reasons, but for bad ones.

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 12th March

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
Sticks and stones ... According to the local press, Councillor Martin Clarkson took exception to the generic description of the Bypass Independents as "buffoons," by BNP Councillor David Owens at this week's council meeting. "I do not class myself as a buffoon," he is quoted as saying. "If Councillor Owens feels that, we need to have a chat outside some time." The phrase "a chat outside" tends to be a euphemism for a punch-up. The dictionary defines a buffoon as: "a rude or vulgar fool, a clown, a person who amuses others by ridiculous behavior." Hmmm. Guilty by definition by the sound of it. Interestingly, Councillor Clarkson's speech comes soon after we referred to the army of BBI councillors who are seen but not heard in the chamber. Clearly something has at last spurred him to speak - but how sad that it had to be to say something so silly.
Listen - do you wanna know a secret ...? Further to yesterday's item about the Mayoral vote, we can tell you that the "secret" ballot to elect the next Mayor was an 18-14 split which exactly reflected the difference between BBI and the Opposition members. "Grumpy, nous t'adore ... " No we jolly well don't!! Once again, the devices used by the BBI (?the Buffoon Brothers International) show them up for the band of shabby little fixers that they are.
Debt of gratitude ... We hear that Better Boston Group Councillor Anne Dorrian is making great progress in challenging the validity of writing off the £1.9m loan to the Princess Royal Sports Arena. That's despite a couple of senior BBI figures leaping in to say that the write-off hasn't been sanctioned, (and thus trying to head her off at the pass.) It's good to see that despite the efforts of the BBI, it is still possible for an opposition voice to be heard from time to time. Keep up the good work, Ms Dorrian.
See you later, remunerator ... We note with interest that Boston Borough Council has rejected a recommendation from its independent remuneration panel to increase councillors’ allowances by 4.6 per cent from April 1. When we commented on this the other day, we said we had no problem with an above-inflation increase as allowances paid to councillors are 40 per cent below the national average. However, we hope that the decision to send the matter back to the remuneration panel for a full review isn't seen as an invitation to suggest some outrageous increase that will put everyone's backs up but lets the BBI cash in during its last year in office. At least any proposal will be subject to "full public consultation," which always makes us laugh.
One for the good guys ... We liked the recent announcement from the Borough Council that "Boston’s newest CCTV camera chalked up its first victims on the very first day of its use." Criminals as victims is an interesting concept to promote. Surely our local council isn't going soft?

May the farce be with you ... When last week we suggested that the Leader's Message be updated on Boston Borough Council's website, we didn't expect to see what followed within days (see picture below) Presumably Councillor Austin has decided to adopt a policy of "no more Mr Nice Guy" in his dealings with the punters (if he ever strayed from it.)

Off Target ... A reader tells us that after a neighbour rang the Boston Target office to ask why her paper was no longer being delivered, the answer was that deliveries were being stopped in some areas. Presumably this is to save costs, but seems rather counter-productive. Can anyone shed some light on this?

And finally ...
Michael's Winner is ... Failed Lib Dem local election candidate Mike Sheridan-Shinn has at last added something new to his blog ... and the punctuation and lack of capitalisation is all his own. "Well now phase two is well under way,i can now reveal that i now know the identity, of our anonymous blogger Boston eye." he writes. "if anyone can guess who it is,i will give a donation to the charity of your choice.but we will not accept michael ashcroft.Its been a difficult few months keeping phase two under wraps,but now we know the identity its time for him to reveal himself....or i will...." We love a challenge, and can't wait to see our name in lights. Publish and be damned Mike, if you're sure you're right. In the meantime, could we suggest that if Mike S-S is planning to run for the Lib Dems at the forthcoming general election, he might choose a better title than "Billy Liar" to direct for Boston Playgoers' May production!

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

The good news and the bad news ...

At last!
Fuddy Duddy ol' Boston has come up with a great idea to launch the town into the headlines.
It's just been announced that JORDAN is to be the town's next Mayor.
And won't she just look swell in ermine?
What?
Oh, not Katy Price?
The other Jordan?
You mean Peter "Grumpy" Jordan, the former deputy leader of Boston Bypass Independents?
That master of words who said that his party could walk on water?
The one who told councillors that draft budget problems facing the borough really were Armageddon?
The one who famously described developers Modus, the firm that planned to build to build Merchants Quay "a wonderful company. They are the sort of straight dealers I want to be in bed with" - not long before they went bust.
By a great stroke of good fortune, Councillor Jordan will don the tricorny hat just in time to get a year in office beneath his ample belt before the politically predictable certainty that the voters will give the Boston Bypass Independents the elbow.
How much of Councillor Jordan's election is a well merited coincidence, or how much it achieves a longer term ambition is unclear.
Our contributor "Scanner" wrote back in February 2008: "Last May, within hours of the BBI taking control of Boston Borough Council, Councillor Peter Jordan became the Council’s 'underleader.' It seems that he also expected to be the new Mayor. Not bad for less than two weeks service to the Borough? Also, they completely disregarded the Council’s Constitution. Councillors chose the present system about twenty years ago. Then, it was decided that the Mayoralty would be awarded to the councillor with the longest length of service who has not already been Mayor. This was the fairest, transparent and most straightforward way and prevented any of the problems that had dogged previous methods.
"Under the present system, Councillors Bedford (17 years service), Dennis (five years), and Rylatt (two years) are the next mayors, if they accept the honour when offered. Our 'underleader' is not daft, he has, obviously, done his maths. If the rules aren’t altered and the present councillors take their mayoralty, then poor old Peter must fight an election before he has the chance to become Mayor. If he stands and is re-elected, unless he pulls rank, he faces selection from the councillors who have served the same length of time that he has."
Well, of course, the rules were altered, and after a couple of years of following the old system to make themselves look good, the BBI have their mayor in place for their final year in power.
Amending the rules caused considerable controversy, and it was left to one of the BBI councillors to clear things up for the great unwashed.
In a letter to the Boston Standard, he suggested that a vote for the BBI was a vote for change - yet the remnants of the last administration still clung desperately to the 'status quo.' He asked: "What about the thousands of Bostonians who elected the BBI party? Are they not entitled to have a Mayor who represents them?" And who was the author of this letter? Surprise, surprise, it was the then deputy leader Peter Jordan!
Given his previous gaffes of the like reported earlier, we thought it a shrewd move to quit the deputy leadership and lie doggo to avoid any further clangers which might have harmed his bid for the mayoralty.
Councillor Jordan was elected by a secret ballot of councillors, which one observer says was an attempt by the BBI to cover its tracks.
It's such a shame that the BBI seems incapable of doing anything in the open air and daylight that accompanies honesty and openness - even the centuries old selection of a mayor is made to seem somehow shabby.
After the election, Councillor Jordan told councillors he felt privileged to be the mayor-elect. He made no mention of being surprised.
He pledged to do his best to be a "good ambassador for the borough" and to be "fair and impartial" in the mayor's role as chairman of full council meetings.
We don't doubt he will want to achieve the former, given his yearning for the post, but given the BBI's track record since it was elected, the second could create some internal strife.


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

Last word in councillors' debate

Have provided a platform for the debate between Councillors Brian Rush and Myles Larrington, we have one final response before we think that matters can be drawn to a close.
It comes from Councillor Larrington, who had criticised earlier comments by Councillor Rush. We are not publishing an additional e-mail from Councillilor Raymond Singleton-McGuire, as between sending it to us and publication, he has withdrawn his remarks. You can read more on his blog at http://www.smgblog.co.uk/
In his e-mail., Councillor Larrington says:
"Having seen the publication of Councillor Rush’s article ‘Tory “incompetence” spawned BBI’ I would like, albeit briefly, to comment on the observations made by Councillor Rush.
"Firstly, I am perfectly happy to reiterate my own view with regard to the Into-Town Bus Service. I oppose buses going through Strait Bargate and, as I have secured a debate on having a referendum over the service to debated by the Policy & Projects Committee later this year, unlike Councillor Rush, I have actually attempted to positively address this issue rather than following the Better Boston Group’s policy of acting to criticise the current administration’s policy whilst offering no alternative solution.
"Secondly, if Councillor Rush had correctly read my previous post he will have come to realise that I am no apologist for the previous administration. I do not deny that many of the old Conservative councillors were out of touch and to some degree, did assist in the BBI’s landslide win of 2007. However, today’s Conservative Group is very different indeed. We have learnt from our past mistakes and are determined to work hard for the people of Boston, but mostly to listen and learn.
"In the end, Councillor Rush can criticise me all he wants. At least, as an elected councillor, I can justify that my views do have some legitimacy (although, of course, I’m not perfect.) If Councillor Rush was confident he could say the same, then why has he not sought re-election under his new label? His views are his own only and he cannot I’m afraid claim he represents anyone but himself.
"Lastly, I will not reiterate the position regarding the County Council. It is well known that before the BBI came to power, the previous council was working closely with Lincolnshire County Council to address these issues and was making reasonable progress. Although Councillor Rush is correct that Boston has been too overlooked for many years, it certainly an exaggeration to say that LCC has "continually ignored the plight of this town."
"I’m afraid the big picture is far more complex than that.
"Best Regards,
"Councillor Myles Larrington"

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

Limp apology rather than paen of praise

As we wrote yesterday's piece about the importance of district councils - or rather the lack of it these days - we were reminded of the letter in last week's local papers from the self appointed "mouth of the Haven," Councillor Major (Retired) Ramonde Newell.
Councillor Newell is one of the few members of the BBI who are given permission to speak in public.
Most of them are regarded by the BBI leadership as prisoners, held mute in their cells between meetings, before being ushered into the light of day, given their voting orders, then locked away again until the next time they're needed.
If you think we're exaggerating, just look back through reports of council and committee meetings and you will see what we mean.
Most of our so-called "representatives" seem to have no opinion on anything.
Aside from the handful who have some sort of role above that of mere councillor, they never speak at meetings, and are merely cannon fodder for the BBI leadership - doing precisely what they're told when they're told to do it.
No so Councillor Newell.
Responding to "the numerous letters" from opposition councillors, he takes the chance to tell us how his "reforming" party has already achieved much that it set out in its manifesto.
He brags of the introduction of the Into Town bus service, even though by its own admission the council recognises that only 50.3% of residents are "very," or "fairly satisfied" with local bus services, which is lower than half of comparable councils. And he ignores the growing level of opinion that abhors the use of the town's pedestrian precinct as a rat run for the service, herding pedestrians aside, filling the place with noise and fumes whilst gradually carving ruts in the paved surface of the precinct.
He claims that financial prudence and stability has been restored, and trumpets considerable reduction in staffing levels - without considering that this could be why levels of service in many areas are in decline.
"Tackling" the Princess Royal Sports Arena problems, seems to mean writing off millions in debt and then giving the place away to a third party contractor with a less than brilliant reputation in its field whilst retaining responsibility for the maintenance of a wooden construction that famously began to leak within months of its completion.
Councillor Newell's list goes on ... and on.
Refurbished toilets get a mention - but the closure of another set do not.
The council "has improved the health and well being of the population" - but Councillor Newell does not say how.
Seventy CCTV cameras have help achieved 700 arrests in a year. That works out at ten per camera, per year - one every five and a bit weeks. Surely even the most incompetent police officer could do better than that. But they are never seen on the streets, and the BBI seems to have little interest in asking that they are.
"The list of improvements are (sic) seemingly endless," chortles Councillor Newell, going on to mention that still on the agenda is the need for "Boston's distributor road" (no more guff about a by-pass then?) the Geoff Moulder pool (again being given away to the same third party firm that's running the PRSA - but only after we, the taxpayers, fork out £2 million to refurbish it.)
Still on the agenda are "issues surrounding foreign nationals." We wonder why its taken so long for the BBI to get around to dealing with this major concern. The Haven Barrage and the power station generating electricity from sewage also get a mention, even though neither has anything to do with the council.
"Smaller" issues include the major problem (no pun intended) of litter, which disgraces this town.
"I believe that it is in the interests of all, that these fact be known," Councillor Newell concludes rather pompously.
Going back to where he started, with the acknowledgement of "numerous letters" from opposition councillors, Councillor Newell is acknowledging that there are genuine reasons for concern.
When viewed item by item, his letter is less of a paean of praise to the achievements of the BBI, but rather more of a limp apology for taking so long to achieve so little.

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

Cunning plan? We don't think so, Baldrick

Those of us who've lived in Boston for longer than we care to remember often find ourselves asking the question "when did it all start to go so wrong."
Granted, there was a time thirty and more years ago that Boston was regarded as mad, bad and dangerous to know by people from other parts of Lincolnshire. We well recall the case of a policeman promoted from his billet in Grantham to a high rank in Boston declaring that he'd rather have forgone the extra power and pay to stay put.
But times have changed, and, generally speaking, Lincolnshire is much the same wherever you live - though we have to say that it suffers a declining quality of life rather than the reverse.
The reason for this musing is that we have been looking at the report before tonight's full council meeting ... one of the few times when elected members of the BBI - the Bully Boy Infantry - get a chance to speak and vote on the running of the borough.
The report asks the council to approve a "corporate plan" for the year ahead - although in reality it contains nothing new, and since the BBI has been in power has been an annual restatement of a plan that never seems to get any further.
It offers nine (or eight really) priorities for the year ahead which are:
1) Focusing on "local place-shaping" to strengthen relations between different parts of the community.
2) Improving the health and well-being of target groups in the community.
3) Easing traffic congestion in the town by seeking improvements to our road infrastructure, continuing to work towards the provision of a distributor road and promoting alternative means of getting around.
4) Sustaining the local economy and boosting local job prospects, by enhancing the town centre, making the most of our built and historic heritage, and continuing to work with partners to develop our enterprise culture.
5) Improving recycling rates.
6) Tackling crime and the fear of crime
7) Increasing availability of affordable housing and decent homes, reducing homelessness and supporting people to live independently.
8) Working with partners to manage and plan for climate change and flood risk issues that face the borough, while ensuring that Boston maintains its place as a thriving and sustainable sub regional centre.
9) but not numbered as such is improving performance and ensuring the financial stability of the council - because it enables the delivery of the eight other priorities.
Interesting though these aims and objectives are, when looked at more closely, it is quite clear that a number of them have been artificially created, as they are not in fact duties or responsibilities of a district authority.
Number 1 - ok ... though we're uncertain about "local place shaping," as focusing on localness works more to emphasis the differences with non locals.
2) Is the job of the multifarious health organisations.
3) Is little more than lobbying, as the borough has no say in highway matters. And what happened to any mention of a bypass?
4) Enhancing the town centre plays no role in boosting job prospects. Apart from the Stump and the Guildhall (which has been ruined) we have no other historic heritage, and our built heritage (such as it is) is not worth writing home about.
5) Important, yes. But important enough to rate a place in a "Corporate Plan? Surely not.
6) Is the job of the police.
7) Would have been a lot easier if the borough housing stock hadn't been flogged off.
8) Again merely a peripheral, lobbying role. And sadly, we feel that Boston long ago relinquished its place as a thriving and sustainable sub regional centre.
9) An opportunity already twice missed, Small increases in council tax last year and this would have been painless and could have paved the way to provide the thick end of another £100,000 for the borough's coffers by now. Instead, the BBI chose to look like local heroes in yet another of their triumphs of style over substance.
What this "Corporate Plan" really underlines is just how little importance district authorities have have in the real life of the local people.

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Tory "incompetence" spawned BBI

Sent for publication yesterday, but too late for inclusion, is the following from Better Boston Group Councillor Brian Rush, which we publish as a "bonus" item for the week.
"I had sat and digested Councillor Larrington's chastisement regarding my contribution recently, and indeed burned the midnight oil as I regularly do despite her indoors's protestations ... responding to each and every one of his observations.
"Then I thought ... No! I will be brief.
"He claims that Boston's present woes are nothing to do with the Conservatives.
"Instead, blaming me for having been a former member of the BBI, and rightly blaming them for their incompetence and mismanagement of our borough.
"But wasn't it the former incompetence of a Tory-led council* that caused the birth of the calamitous BBI?
"Was it not Martin Hill along with his Conservative county colleagues that has continually ignored the plight of this town.
"It is his reactive need to spring to the defence of his Conservatives that actually proves the point I was trying to make.
"Political parties stick together, listen to no one, blame everyone else and have to live by the Party Line.
"His ignorance of fact further highlights his own naivety.
"It is a matter of record that Councillor Anne Dorrian and myself  (BBG) were the first borough councillors to meet, consult and support the swimming club in the training pool battle; it was some time later that the singular Conservative Councillor Singleton-McGuire, signed up to the cause.
"Sorry Myles!
"Now how about Councillor Larrington explaining to the public where he stands on buses in the precinct?
"We know what Lincolnshire County Council and the BBI think, and we know what the people of Boston think?
"Over to you councillor.
"Brian Rush."

* Editor's note: Although the previous administration was politically one of "no overall control" the reference to Tory-led means literally that the leaders at the time were Conservatives.

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