Sub Standard paper sheds even more readers

With what now seems like remarkable prescience, we reported a few days ago on the decline in our local newspapers.
Now comes the news you won’t read in your Boston Standard - its sales since the last sweep by the Audit Bureau of Circulations have fallen by exactly five per-cent, and now stand at 9,412.
Of course, the Standard is not alone in throwing away readers as if there were no tomorrow - 90% of paid-for weekly local and regional papers in the UK recorded year-on-year falls in circulation in the first-half of 2010.
There are a number of reasons for this.
The first is that a couple of decades ago, some 200 companies owned Britain's local papers. Today, just five own 740 - or 61% - of the surviving titles.
Another reason is that journalism is not what it was. Hacks these days can easily acquire a media studies qualification for little effort, and as a result the courses are eagerly sought by people who fancy a quick career path from college to television.
By the nature of things, these jobs are hard to find, so many journalists are forced to resign themselves to life at the bottom of the food chain - a life as a lowly paid weekly newspaper reporter.
Of course, this is true of most weekly papers, not just our locals - but that’s no consolation.
The Boston Standard is owned by Johnston Press, which produces 18 daily newspapers and 253 weekly newspapers, and which has a history of cutting costs to the bone, which means employing as few staff as possible - but that’s no excuse.
A look at this week’s Standard is a good example of why readers are deserting in tsunami-style waves.
A total of 44 “news” stories
The “Brighter Boston” feature. When this first started, the logo was peppered throughout the paper. Now it appears just once a week. Does that mean Boston is dull - or just that nothing much good ever happens? Oddly, a couple of places where the symbol should be displayed is on the Boston Enterprise Week feature and the news of a £24 million contract for Magnadata.  But it isn’t.
Our heart sank when we saw the return of what used the be called “The Mess of the Month.” This critique of local eyesores was provided (as it will be again) by Boston Preservation Trust.
Then, the contributor was a former Town Clerk* of Boston, the late Ron Coley. Mr Coley, a diminutive man with a squint and a tendency to wear a cossack hat in almost all weathers, would prowl the town, locate his target, write a piece of blood curdling invective, followed by the sentence “Enough is enough” - after which he would demand a host of expensive improvements usually well beyond the reach of the property owners. Unfortunately, he often targeted the wrong people, and the Standard, on more than one occasion, had to apologise to occupants of properties who were as eager to have them improved as Mr Coley, but were powerless to get anything done. The feature wasn’t much cop last time. But the Civic Trust has shrewdly guessed that no one at the paper remembers that it’s all been done before, and will welcome a regular contribution that they don’t have to write with open arms. Doubtless they’ll assuage their consciences by calling it “citizen journalism.”
Back to the Standard.
Once a month a column appears entitled “Comment.” Usually this means that a paper has something to say - and heaven knows, there’s enough subjects in Boston which need serious comment. But no. The “Comment” is always from a financial adviser - and this month’s contributor tells us that a monthly investment of £62.50 over 45 years at interest of 10%a month (find a rate like that if you can) will generate “over £500,000.” We’re not experts on compound interest, but we feel that £50,000 is nearer the mark.
Read on. On page 14, the smiling faces of pupils from the Giles School at Old Leake beam out at us as they celebrate their A-level results. On page 15 we see similar delight at Boston High and Boston Grammar schools.
Turn the page, and you can see err ... the smiling faces of pupils from the Giles School at Old Leake. C’mon it wasn't that good a story.
In short, most weeks, the Standard is a slapdash disgrace that’s filled with whatever stories fall easily to hand.
In a town the size of Boston, its circulation should be around 15,000 copies a week - but it is no surprise that it is falling like a stone.

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*Town Clerk - the title now known as Chief Executive. It ought still to be in use today in many authority areas as a lot of smaller authorities are little more than towns, and the present job title is more often a piece of aggrandisement which does no more than justify an inappropriately high salary.

Week ending 27th August

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events

Parking up the wrong tree ... Parking problems caused by visitors to Pilgrim Hospital are highlighted in Conservative Councillor Raymond Singleton-McGuire’s ever-entertaining blog. However, we think he’s wrong to suggest that they are caused by a knock-on effect of the hospital’s high car parking charges. Recently we had to attend the Pilgrim on a regular basis, and noted that even though visiting hours begin at 2pm, the car park was full to overflowing as early as 1-30. If you drive past even earlier than that you can see the same thing, and we think that a combination of two things is at the heart of the problem. First, staff are using the main car parks in colossal numbers, and secondly - although the rules clearly state that only two visitors are allowed at a patient’s bedside, there are often as many as half a dozen - and you can bet they arrived in at least three cars. A quiet word with the hospital could go a long way towards solving the problem. Councillor Singleton-McGuire also tells us that the police and PCSO’s refuse to issue tickets for dangerous parking, “on the basis of being compassionate to the vehicle owners visiting patients."  Let’s hope that this compassion doesn’t end in a serious or possibly fatal accident as could easily be the case. This police are simply being lazy and not wanting to court unpopularity. If people are parking dangerously, they should be ticketed and fined.
Floody hell ... Boston - the town of blocked drains - keeps adding to its score each time the heavens open. Our latest picture - sorry if it’s a bit hard to make out - shows water covering an entire carriageway on one of the town’s busier roads.

And one of our readers tells us that Strait Bargate was also awash during the week as shoppers were forced to paddle their way past the QD shop. We don’t write all this stuff for fun, you know, The idea is that someone, somewhere in a position of responsibility and authority thinks that issues like this are important enough to report to the relevant authorities for some sort of action to be taken. What a shame none of our councillors or other officials seem to care.
Doing it by numbers ... Lincolnshire is one of a handful of areas in the country set to test out the new 111 phone number for non-emergency medical queries aimed at people who "need help quickly and can't wait for an appointment with your GP or don't know who to call.” Numbers, numbers everywhere. How are people supposed to decide whether to use this new number or NHS Direct? According to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, dialling111 will "end the confusion over what services are available when." We suspect that it will cause even more.
Dial what? ...Talking of numbers, we were amused by a line in the local papers asking people to ring Boston Police Station on 0300 111 0300. We’d lay money on you ending up talking to someone who’s never heard of Boston, and is probably working 40 miles away in Lincoln. Hands up if you yearn for the days when local meant local.
How time flies ... This time last week, we pointed out that the link to the website promoting the much vaunted Boston Showcase community event was broken. It seems that our observation fell on deaf ears as seven days later the situation is unchanged. Earlier in the week we also highlighted the pitiful absence of promotion of local events on Boston Borough Council's website. As far as the showcase is concerned, the site still bars visitors from accessing the link. Not only that but it doesn’t mention it in its What’s On diary for September - although it finds room for  the Burghley Horse Trials and a beach hut event on the coast. Boston Mayflower gives the showcase a plug on its website - but fails to mention when it is taking place. Thanks go to failed Labour parliamentary candidate Paul Kenny for that one. Ironically this mass indifference comes in a week when tourism portfolio holder Councillor Richard Dungworth is fluting that an increase in visitor numbers is down to “the hard work done by Visitor Lincolnshire and Boston Borough staff...”  Not from where we’re sitting.
They still can’t get it right ... On the same subject, earlier in the week we pointed out the omission of details of tomorrow’s Fake Festival from the borough council's what’s on diary. To the council's credit, attempts were made to include it at this late stage but, as is so often the case, the result turned into something of a farce.

See what we mean? Having said that, a “Boston fake Alford craft festival market” might well draw the crowds in future years.
Damned if you do- damned if you don’t ... It’s an ironic comment on the world of local politics that a letter to the local press praises former Councillor Tony Austin for apologising for his part in introducing fortnightly wheelie bin collections - but at the same time speculates that it may be a ploy to curry favour with voters ahead of next year’s local elections. Why people are so mistrustful of our local councillors completely baffles us!
As old as you feel ... Talking of being baffled, we can’t quite think why a report on the forthcoming open day at the town’s Victorian cemetery refers to Herbert Ingram - one of Boston’s famous historical figures - as “Boston's Old Man.” Poor old Herbert drowned in a shipping accident in the United States at the tender age of 49. Aside from founding the Illustrated London News, Ingram was lauded locally for bringing fresh water to the town. Had he lived, he would have seen the borough's blocked drains spare him the trouble.
They never lern ... Last’s week’s spelling lesson has gone unheeded by the Boston Target. Despite our drawing attention to a fete worse than death advertised in the paper last week, up pops another one in this week’s issue. Pay attention now:- an event usually associated with the word “garden” is spelled “fete” - not “fate.”

That’s it for this week. Enjoy the Bank Holiday. We'll be back on Tuesday.



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Politically correct litter

In its never-ending war on reducing bumph, Boston Borough Council has produced yet another leaflet on which it is seeking our comments.
This time it’s a jaunty little missive entitled “Service Standards: what you can expect from us.”
Heaven knows how many of these will be printed and left gently to fade in the sunlight in leaflet dispensers around the borough, before being bundled in with next year’s council tax demands.
The bottom line is that the document is a statement of the obvious - and all the information within it could be made available elsewhere at - most probably - significantly lower cost.
For instance, we would expect to be treated fairly and assume that the council - but perhaps not some of the councillors - would be open and honest with us. Goethe hit the nail on the head when he said: "In politics, as on a sickbed, men toss from side to side in hope of lying more comfortably.”
Many of the promises are almost duplicates of others - almost as if the leaflet would have been a little thin without some verbal padding.
Similarly, some pledges - when closely examined - really are meaningless.
The promise to answer 80% of calls to the council switchboard within 15 seconds is qualified with the condition “all other calls will be answered promptly .”
Then we have a promise to see all visitors within 15 minutes of arrival “or providing an
explanation of why this is not possible .”
Or what about “responding in full to all written communication within 10 working days” - or if not advising when a full response will be made.
Every promise here has a caveat which makes them worthless.
We have to say that our gut feeling it that all this leaflet represents is a politically correct piece of litter - not worth the paper it is printed on, but expensive nonetheless.

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Councillor wants elected Mayor "coalition"

On Monday’s blog, we highlighted the call in a letter to a local paper from Councillor Jim Blaylock to support the idea of an elected mayor for Boston, rather than continue with the present system where the council is run by the leader of the controlling party - but with even more draconian powers.
Oddly, given the politically controversial nature of the letter, which in effect was a condemnation of the present leader, Councillor Richard “Papa Dick” Austin, Councillor Blaylock neglected to indicate that he was an elected representative - presumably as a form of damage limitation. Not only that but he is also a cabinet member, which makes him a member of the eight-strong glee club that has been responsible for so much of the incompetence and ineptitude we associated with the Bypass Independents’ Party, and therefore a voice to be heard.
Hos call has prompted an enthusiastic response from Conservative Councillor Myles Larrington, who represents the Pilgrim Ward.
He told Boston Eye: Firstly, I would like to recognise the importance of Councillor Blaylock raising this important issue, which, in my view, extends beyond mere party politics.
“Councillors have a fundamental choice to make here – who do we want to be the kingmakers – politicians or people?
“Let us for a moment consider the facts:
Since Boston Borough Council was founded, no member of the public has ever had the opportunity to elect a leader of the council.
“This has, by default, always been the prerogative of the Cabinet. In other words, councillors handing out jobs to other councillors.
“This has also resulted in a severe lack of accountability.
“When we consider some of the worse policies to come out of Boston Borough Council (i.e. the Princess Royal Sports Arena, Haven Gallery, proposed closure of the training pool) all were originally approved and determined by members of the Cabinet.
“This lack of accountability comes from the fact that voters elect a ward representative, rather than being given a chance to vote on the leader – and thereby a vote on a four year programme for Boston as a whole.
“This is compounded by the fact that, under the current system, the leader is dependent on the support of the Cabinet – rather than the people.
“Although I agree with you that a number of issues have arisen from the BBI’s running of Boston Borough Council, it is not just the BBI who are against the idea of an elected mayor.
“Indeed, I would suggest a majority of the opposition is also likely to be against this.
“ In the end, I believe this issue transcends political parties. It is about those who wish to give more power and accountability to the people of Boston – and those who don’t.
“I am willing to work with anybody in any party that will support this change.
“I support Councillor Blaylock, and hope that those of us in favour of a change can form a ‘coalition’ of like-minded councillors, willing to put principal before patronage.
“The only councillors who defend the old system, in my view do so because they realise they would not be elected under the proposed new system – which I think is wrong.
“Why shouldn’t the person who wishes to run the borough have to put themselves to vote of the people of the town?
“I believe having an elected mayor would put someone with a real mandate in charge of the council. “It would bring an end to ‘officer-led’ initiatives, and bring real accountability back to decision making. “I suggest that we need to work together to outvote those on the council who would simply work to preserve ‘jobs for the boys’.
“That is why I’m all in favour of what Councillor Blaylock is doing.”


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Borough Council says: go to Alford, Spilsby ... anywhere but Boston!

Another pointless Boston Borough Council survey hits the internet - this time asking for our views about the borough’s “Cultural Services.”
The first question asks how many times in the last year have we been involved in, or been to visit number of activities in Boston including opera - where the answer is quite easy.
The same question is then asked for events outside Boston.
Among the options offered for reasons why we might not have attended events, the list includes “lack of activities/events/venues,” and “poor quality activities/events/venues” - both of which we suspect will be the most commonly ticked boxes.
We are finally asked to check a list of “aspects” in order of importance when thinking about heritage and arts. before moving on to the inevitable intrusive and irrelevant questions about age,disability, ethnicity, sexuality - all of those things that make our views on culture so important.
The most obvious question about this survey is what on earth use it will be if anyone takes the trouble to answer it?
Apparently, Boston has a cultural services manager - job which must be the nearest thing on the council to a dress rehearsal for retirement, as Boston has very little to write home about on the culture front.
At a stretch there’s the Stump, but in our book it counts as a monument rather than “culture.” There’s the Guildhall, restored to appear as if it was completed a few weeks rather than a few centuries ago, and turned into a noisy medieval theme park - a son et son where speakers blare out at you as you enter every room.
We poked around on the borough’s website for a few minutes imagining ourselves to be planning a visit to the visit to the town, and what we found was not impressive.
We thought the idea of looking at a pocket guide was a good idea, but when we clicked on the link, we were told: “ You are not authorised to view this resource. You need to login. “

August is the big Bank Holiday Month, so we headed for the Borough website’s what’s on guide. Here’s what we found.

Not even a mention of the much-lauded phoney festival that the fakes on the BBI trumpeted as such a big deal for the town.
Ah well, there’s always the famous “Boston Experience” to turn to in an hour of need, and here’s what we found when we clicked the link from the home page.

So, if you fancy a good day out in Boston, why not got to .... Alford, or Spilsby.
Which reminds us ... the link to the website celebrating one of the borough’s showcase events ... er, the Boston Showcase ... is still broken. Never mind, we only reported it last Friday.
So far, the only place where we have found it to have got an online a mention is on - South Holland District Council’s website.

In fairness, it also appears on the borough’s own site ... but with the usual result.

What on earth is the point of a survey of Boston’s “culture” when this incompetent, hopeless, useless council can’t even get its act together and provide local information on its website.

*Click on any of the photos above to view a larger version.


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Blaylock's black look for keeping council leader

Unless there are two people called Jim Blaylock living in Kirton, there there are apparently quite serious disagreements within the Boston Bypass Independents concerning whether or not an elected Mayor would be a better option for the Borough than an all-powerful leader. Writing in the Boston Standard under the headline “The town needs an elected Mayor,” Jim Blaylock says an elected mayor would put the electorate in the driving seat and let them decide who they wanted to run the council - and if the incumbent failed to deliver he or she would get kicked out.
And he also uses the argument to launch a veiled attack on the present council leader Richard “Papa Dick” Austin.
Councillor Blaylock’s intervention comes after the borough published the result of another of its famous “consultations” in which an inadequate survey both online and included with the council tax bills that drew the predictably indifferent response.
The report in the borough’s monthly bulletin even went so far as to declare “Elected mayor gets thumbs down” - suggesting that the suggestion has been kicked into touch once and for all.
Enter Councillor Blaylock.
He says - quite rightly - that our democratic system gives elected members the right to govern, and for the council of­ficers to carry out the wishes of the elected members – not the other way round
“Over the last 20 years many of the policy decisions made by Boston Borough Council have been officer lead (sic) some with dis­astrous consequences – for example the. PRSA and the Haven Gallery.
“Members have been reactive and not proactive.
“It's time for a change.”
Councillor Blaylock argues that an elected mayor would save money and create a single motivated team.
He cites Mansfield council as a good example of how the system could operate, and where a “transformed” council are delivering regeneration and improved serv­ices.
Controversially, he concludes: “An elected mayor brings better leadership, accountability, and a streamlined decision mak­ing process, which will ensure the council delivers better serv­ices to its community.”
We’re not sure what Councillor Austin might make of this, as we are certain that he wholeheartedly embraces the status quo, where he rules the council with a rod of iron, and sacks any party colleagues who have the temerity to disagree with him.
Not only that, but were he ever to become leader under the proposed new system, he would enjoy even more autonomy - and we’d all be saluting his hat on a pole in the Market Place.
We’ve commented on this issue before, and here’s what we said last November:
“The BBI has produced a rotten executive, and the question is whether whatever replaces it will be any better. The problem with option A (an elected leader) is that we get the mixture as before with the exception that the new leader has absolute authority, which - depending on the leader - could be a very dangerous thing. We've seen what happens in the present council when conflicts of personality collide with spite. The problem with option B (an elected mayor) is that we cannot for the life of us think of anyone who is big enough to be deemed electable as a potential Mr or Mrs Boston.”
The latter remains true, but we applaud Councillor Blaylock’s call for as much debate on the issue as possible.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

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Week ending 20th August

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
Pigs might fly ...We could scarcely believe our eyes. A letter in the Boston Target, signed by A. Austin of Wyberton, apologised to the town for voting to end weekly bin collections when the decision was taken by Boston Borough Council.  Silly old Boston Eye. It was a few minutes before we realised that this A. Austin was former Conservative Councillor Anthony Austin, who was ousted from power in Boston South by a namesake with the same initial who as far as we know has never apologised to the voters for anything and probably would never think of it.
No experience necessary ... A less than enthusiastic reaction from one local who checked out Council Leader Richard Austin’s heavily self promoted “Boston Experience” website. The visitor cited shortcomings with opening times at the Guildhall, the shabby appearance of Central Park, patchy opening times for the swimming pool, untidy streets and a fish dock that takes a mere couple of minutes to visit. Added to that, the writer points out that many of the attractions mentioned are nowhere near Boston. Another success story for the BBI, then.
World Wide Where? ... “New website to showcase community event,” trills the Boston Standard, directing us to visit http://www.bostonshow-case.co.uk/  for all the news of the town’s annual event. There’s just one problem. Follow the link and you’ll be told that there is a problem loading the page an that the server cannot be found. Words fail us.
Just the ticket .... Congratulations to Boston’s Magnadata, which has been awarded a five year contract by to produce magnetic rail tickets for all the UK Train Operating Companies. The contract is worth £24 million and will help increase the group’s turnover to around £34 million year. All the tickets will be produced in the town, where 220 people are employed at one of the largest ticketing and labelling printing companies in the UK.
JHare today
Hare today ... An apology in the Boston Standard to local writer Ty Dalby regrets a mix up which instead of calling his song “Mr Have Gumshield Will Travel,” referred to it as “Mr Hare Gumshield Will Travel.” For once, we’re relaxed about an error in our local papers. With a title like that who gives a monkey’s?
Off Target 1... Two slips in the same story in this week’s Target made us smile. The headline over a story about a the Placecheck Scheme, which uses criminals to clear litter, was referred to as the “Paycheck Project.” Who says crime doesn’t pay? And our smile became a grin when we read: “The High Sheriff ... whose role dates back to 900ad, told the Target ...” He’s wearing well for someone who’s 1,110 years old!
Off Target 2 ... Finally, the advert below caught our eye, and made us wonder what their proofreaders do all day...

Is this the fate worse than death, perhaps?

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Into Town bus scheme has failed

Boston’s Into Town bus service is apparently not at "immediate risk" of being scrapped - even though the government plans to cut public transport subsidies.
The Department for Transport has to cut 25 to 40 per cent off the Bus Service Operators £15.9 billion grant which reimburses bus firms for the fuel duty they pay for local services.
Lincolnshire County Council said the Into Town service was performing well and on target for being commercially viable at the end of its contract life.
"While it is difficult to predict the severity of any future funding constraints, and therefore to give any categorical assurances, given its performance to date it is unlikely this service would be at immediate risk.”
As you might expect, we are not throwing our caps up in the air at this news.
We think that a service such as Into Town fills a much needed want for many people in Boston.
But the evidence suggests that it is not taking cars off the road, which is the main reason it was introduced.
And before someone takes us to task over this claim, we must point out that we have reached this conclusion using figures provided by the council itself.
The borough’s latest bulletin claims that the number of cars parked in Boston has increased by 24.2% over the past five years.
Between April 2005 and March 2006 1,027,325 cars parked in Boston - a year-on-year rise which rose to 1,257,699 between April 2009 and March 2010.
This increase represents an extra 248,374 vehicles parking in Boston when compared with the 2005/06 figures.
In other words, even more motorists are now using their cars to get in and out of Boston since the Into Town bus service was introduced in July 2008.
Meanwhile, the social cost of the service is becoming increasing apparent.
Not only do the buses create pollution from noise and fuel fumes, the damage to the surface of Strait Bargate is becoming increasing obvious.
Tracks crushed into the paving blocks by the bus wheels are becoming more and more noticeable and it won’t be long before the increasing unevenness of the surface causes someone to trip and fall.
Meanwhile, the bus drivers are becoming increasingly contemptuous towards pedestrians. We’ve noticed the use of the horn as well as warning tones if people don’t get out of the way quickly enough, and instances of aggressive driving on other occasions.
Let’s hope we keep the service. But at the same time, let’s not treat it as sacrosanct.
It needs to be routed away from Strait Bargate, and to argue against that is to ignore common sense and public health and safety.

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Why do we get such a bad press?

Anyone who has lived in Boston for more than a few years cannot have failed to have noticed the decline in our local newspapers.
From being big and bursting with local news they have become anaemic shadows of their former selves, with the apparent policy that so long as the “news” pages are filled as quickly as possible with whatever comes to hand, the content is by the by.
The problem is not peculiar to Boston. Local papers around the country are being marginalised by proprietors who see them as cash cows and don’t care what the content is, so long as the advertising revenues remain as high as possible.
Our oldest surviving local paper - the Boston Standard - was established in 1912 and was profitable enough to support three generations of the same family.
Now it is part of Johnston Press, which has pursued a relentless policy of cuts and centralisation.
The Target is owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust, which keeps a similar cost conscious eye on its local and regional publications.
Whilst both groups celebrates their profits, the losers are the readers of the papers.
The Target, once delivered free to all , and good value at that price, has steadily cut back on its distribution with the result that if you want one you have to pay for it.
Large headlines and even larger pictures keep local content to a minimum, and the paper also dedicates around half a dozen pages a week to “county” stories - general reports usually with a police/health/county council theme - which last week filled six of the twenty “news” pages.
The Standard’s news coverage is equally thin - it works out at more than 1p per story in last week’s paper - but made more interesting by the regular addition of typographical or other mistakes such as one last week which warned us to beware of “flue like” symptoms. Two stories last week starred members of staff. One is trying to stop smoking, and believes that we’re interested in his progress, while the newly appointed editor takes the opportunity to blag the spot allocated to their “Brighter Boston” feature (“celebrating community and business success”) to plug a personal charity fund raising appeal.
Given the small number of stories in the paper these days, we would rather that they sought out some interesting news for us instead.
Nothing more difficult or dangerous than a weekly walk around Boston would provide a dozen stories. For instance, we’ve lost count of how many old businesses have closed, or new ones opened which have gone unreported in our local press.
This is the stuff that interests local people, but our modern breed of “journalists” apparently doesn’t realise it - even though readers are deserting them in droves as the ever-declining circulation figures prove.
Boston is a busy and thriving borough, but our papers fail to reflect the fact.
Someone once said that we get the press we deserve.
If so we must have done something very bad indeed.
Earlier this week. the Media Trust highlighted concerns that the decline of local newspapers has left many people feeling disempowered It called for "news hubs" where journalists can re-engage with the public face to face. These hubs would be sited in community centres, schools or the back room of pubs, and be financed by lottery money and local authorities.
It’s a good idea. But we’d be surprised if it ever happened.

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Say "buzz off" to Hobson's choice

Yesterday the drains ... today the wheelie bins.
Despite the mounting chorus of voices demanding the restoration of a weekly collection service, the portfolio holder for bins, Councillor Dave Hobson, remains obdurate.
In support of the status quo, he says that Boston is one of many local authorities which now empty bins on alternate weeks, and that he is “encouraged” by the “support” of local people for the scheme.
Both of these arguments are fallacious.
The fact that Boston is willing sheepishly to follow an unpopular course of action is no justification - nor does it mean that because people obey the recycling rules - which were arbitrarily imposed without any public consultation - that they embrace them with enthusiasm. And let’s not forget that anyone who disobeys the council’s orders ends up in court facing a heavy fine.
To make matters worse, it has emerged that the initiative for fortnightly collections was at the unilateral behest of the now discredited and soon to be abolished Audit Commission, which pushed councils to comply - even though there was no government policy to do so.
So no-one really wants it.
By an amusing irony, the surname of the man telling us how great the alternate refuse collection system is, is one forever associated with a total absence of freedom.
The dictionary tells us: “A Hobson's choice is a choice in which only one option is offered. As a person may refuse to take that option, the choice is therefore ‘take it or leave it.’”
Exactly.
This summer has been one of the hottest for many years, providing perfect breeding conditions for flies.
Many people are unable to clean out their green bins. It may be because of disability, or the fact that their bins remain on the street, and any attempt to wash them out would probably lead to accusations of some littering.
Whatever the reason, the telltale smell is a giveaway, and lifting the lid of such a bin would doubtless find it seething with maggots.
We wonder whether Councillor Hobson is aware that more than 100 pathogens associated with the house fly may cause disease in humans and animals, including typhoid, cholera, bacillary dysentery, tuberculosis, anthrax, ophthalmia and infantile diarrhea, as well as parasitic worms.
The female house fly lays individual eggs in masses of 75 to 150 eggs; in her lifetime, a single female house fly may lay up to 900 eggs.
The potential reproductive capacity of flies is tremendous. If unchecked by nature, pair of flies beginning beginning breeding in April may be progenitors, if all were to live, of 91,010,000,000,000,000,000, flies by August.
Then, or course, there are rats ... but we’re not going there.
It is a great pity that Councillor Hobson and his BBI partners in public health crime cannot see a way to deal with reasonable complaints from reasonable people.
The bottom line is - as always - that alternate bin collections are cheaper, so the punters can go and boil their heads as far as our leaders are concerned.
That’s it for today ....
Must fly!

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Boston really is "Waterland"

There was a time when a regular sight on our roads was that of a mini tanker crawling along and stopping every few yards for a worker to lift a drain cover and insert the tube of what looked like a giant vacuum cleaner to clear the pipework below of rubbish and debris.
When did you last see one?
Difficult to say, isn’t it?
Presumably someone, somewhere, has decided that they can save a few quid by cutting back on the frequency of this work - certainly the evidence suggests that this is the case.
Before we took our recent break, we posted a photo of weeds growing through the grating of a roadside drain on John Adams Way.
They were able to do so, because just six inches below the grille there is a packed layer of dust and debris providing a bed on which the weeds can flourish.
Over the past few days, we have taken a stroll along the road and found that in many cases the drains are blocked - or partially blocked.
After the weekend’s heavy rains, water was clearly visible less than an inch below some drain covers, and we are sure that at the peak of the rain it was overflowing on to the road itself.
And how about this picture?

It was also taken not far from John Adams Way, some hours after it stopped raining, and clearly shows how a blockage has allowed water to accumulate and in this case flood part of the road.
This particular site floods regularly.
And how many of you have been forced to paddle their way through the lagoons in Pescod Square after heavy rain?
The state of the drains around the town is now such that in the not-so-unlikely event of prolonged heavy rain, we could see potentially damaging surface water flooding simply because the powers that be have put economy ahead of the need for routine maintenance.
We should never have taken the mickey when the famous “Boston Experience” dubbed the town “Waterland.” Someone was just showing remarkable prescience.
Surely, there is someone in the ruling group on our council who has responsibility for this sort of thing, and who should rattle a cage or two at County Hall to get this work done before Boston gets some unwanted flooding and more bad publicity.
If there isn’t then there should be.


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Week ending 6th August

Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events
We’ll be dammed ... whilst the work that is going on all around Boston to protect the borough from flooding is very heartening it counts for nothing when main drains are allowed to get into a state like this.
The photo was taken beside John Adams Way, where a backlog of mud and debris just inches beneath the grating has become a fertile weed bed. What happens when it rains hard is anyone’s guess, but the example we’ve pictured above is not unique. Some maintenance is long overdue.
What the papers didn’t mean to say ... First, our thanks go to the Boston Target, for this interesting use of English in last week's paper.

Not what I say ... Moving on to the Boston Standard, we noted with interest the lead story on youngsters putting their lives at risk by jumping into Boston’s rivers. The photo of a young man preparing to leap from the town's Sluice Bridge was marred by placing the story over it - and therefore losing the point - was credited to “Granny Buttons.” A new member of staff, we mused?  No. “Granny Buttons” is the name of a narrowboat, and the title of a website dedicated to life on the waterways. And the piece from which the photo was lifted was actually sympathetic in tone to the youngsters - even though it acknowledged the risks they ran. How strange then to see it used in precisely the opposite context.
Accident or design? ... Elsewhere within the paper, we think we found a mischievous sense of humour at work. Whilst not everyone likes Anthony Worrall Thompson, his photo in our edition apparently depicts him in the style of the famous Tony Blair “Demon Eyes” poster.

Mishap or mischief? If the picture’s the same in your copy the answer is the latter.
Who’s who? ... Two photos of the Mayor in this week’s paper, both showing a slightly eccentric fashion sense in the choice of garb to accompany the chain of office, which loses its dignity with either tan or white jackets. However the white apparel did remind us of a famous TV character of days gone by. Can you spot the similarity?

That's it for this week. We said last week that because it was such a quiet time that we’d cease logging for a week or two. As it was, we only missed one day of the first week - but feel that next week really does look empty, so we’ll be back on Monday 16th. Unless, of course, something earth-shattering occurs. We’re still around, though, so please keep in touch.


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First the enda EMDA ... now it's GOEM, GOEM ... GONE!

Hard on the heels of the Con-Dem announcement to scrap the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) comes news that another target will be the Government Office for the East Midlands (GOEM.)
As we said at the time of the announcement of the enda EMDA, Boston is unlikely to have much of a voice in all of this, but we need to make our presence felt at this early stage in the game with the people that do - to ensure that we are not as so often happens pushed to the bottom of the list.
Whether this is happening or not is unclear.
We learned earlier in the week that initial plans to replace EMDA have already been submitted to the government by Nottingham and Derby city councils, with Lincolnshire and Leicestershire county councils, to form a Local Economic Partnership - which is now the government’s preferred way forward.
Businesses and universities have also signed up to the alliance, which aims to promote economic growth.
Letters were sent to local authorities and businesses inviting them to develop the new partnerships, and organisations signed up to the East Midlands scheme so far include the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce, the Institute of Directors East Midlands, as well as Nottingham, Nottingham Trent and Derby universities - note that there is no mention of Lincoln.
If the proposals are approved, the new partnership will work to secure funding for regeneration projects and encourage economic development.
The government will announce whether the plans have been accepted in September.
What worries us is that none of the information we have discovered so far has come from Lincolnshire.
Obviously Boston doesn’t have a role here because the borough is not a player at this level - although we would like to hear that some sort of lobbying is being done at County Hall to press our case.
But we fear that Lincolnshire - and by extension this much neglected corner known as Boston - is in danger of losing out by virtue of keeping too quiet at a time when we need to shout to get our place at the table.
We seem to have had little to say in what is planned to follow EMDA, and need to speak up as GOEM dies the death before whatever is planned to replace it becomes a fait accompli.


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It's BIDness as usual by the look of it

The letter* from the British Chambers of Commerce says it all - there is no way that the critics of
Boston BID are going to get their way and see the organisation would up.

Despite the strong opinions expressed, the Chambers brush them aside, minimise the lever of feeling expressed and the numbers who expressed that feeling, and give the strong impression that the BID will just laugh this off, make a few minor changes then carry on with the mixture as before.
Boston Eye is behind the opponents of Boston BID, which has so far shown itself to be nothing more than an organisation that exists because it exists.
To waste the lion’s share of its income on its boss, three chocolate soldiers who act as low level security staff some minor weeding, plus self promotion is not what the people who pay their enforced levy wanted or expected.
Take a look at what’s happening in Lincoln if you want to see how a business improvement district should work.

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* Click on the letter to enlarge it.

Blogger becomes clubber

On Friday we said that we would be blogging on an ad hoc basis for the next week or so because of the quietness of the time of year.
We note that County and Borough councillor Raymond Singleton-McGuire has followed our example after a period of extremely patchy communication with his electors.
And as we trawled our way through the few blogs where councillors purportedly extend their communicative reach to the hoi polloi who voted for them, to see what others might be doing, we were disappointed to note that our newest member has erected a hurdle which the general punter has to surmount before being allowed to feast his or her eyes on the words of wisdom contained therein.
Visitors to County Councillor Andrea Jenkyns’s blog could - until recently - read her news and share her thoughts simply by pointing their browser to http://andreajenkyns.blogspot.com/ - but no more.
Now, we are told “This blog is open to invited readers only....”

To access it, a visitor must be a “Blogger” subscriber prepared to enter their e-mail address and “Blogger” password to be granted admission to The Presence.
Let’s not forget that once that password is provided, a visitor’s site is vulnerable to anyone who feels like taking a look - which could well include tinkering with the content.
Over the years, the Tories have been accused of running a club for the benefit for themselves and their members.
We had hoped that Councillor Jenkyns might have proved to be a breath of fresh air in this respect.
But this latest bar on viewing the news and opinions of a so-called public servant who wants to set terms and conditions suggests that this is not the case at all ...
Political blogging in our part of the world is poor enough. One borough councillor was forced to cease commenting because of a campaign of frivolous complaints, whilst others have fallen by the wayside after what might have been a promising start.
Perhaps Boston still isn’t ready for high tech democracy!

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All right - there's no such thing as a day off ... here's what's coming tomorrow ...

The Tory  county councillor who demands your   address and password to read her blog ...
So much for openness and transparency ...

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