Thoughts of chairman Steve on what a jolly good idea Boston BID is ...

Monday’s blog on the latest developments concerning Boston Business Improvement District prompted many calls from readers for more details of what was in the letter sent out to members.
The letter, from the BID’s unelected chairman - Steve Goulder of Oldrids - at least has the commonsense to tell readers that the recent AGM was not a very satisfactory meeting.
However, we disagree when he says it served little purpose other than to add to the confusion and misconception that surrounds the BID.
The people at the meeting were clear and unconfused about what they wished to see happen to Boston BID. They wanted it shutting down.
Mr Goulder tries to woo his audience by telling the reluctant BID members that they are all singing from the same hymn sheet. But he also makes the mistake of writing to them as though they were children.
“As I watched the meeting unfold before me I could not help but think that we actually all wanted the same thing and that if the BID were guilty of anything it was in its failure to let its customers know what they were getting or could expect to get for their money. I saw the faces of some as they realised that the Town Rangers are funded entirely by the levy and that if the BID were to fail the Rangers would go ‘how could they not know that?’ I thought and ‘what else have we not made them aware of?’
“‘We could pay for them ourselves" I heard. OK, but who would organise that I wondered, how would they manage to get the funds collected who would take it upon themselves to sign the contract and commit themselves to £60,000 a year and best of all if you divide the cost of the Rangers equally amongst the businesses it would cost £2 per week twice what most of the businesses in the room are paying already.”
Unfortunately, his argument then begins to fall apart with the admission “Yes it could be said that some of these things should be supplied by others but does anybody really think that if the Rangers were to disappear extra police officers would take their place or if the street cleaners were to go would Boston Borough Council suddenly increase the funding allocated to street cleaning to replace them? I suspect not.”
The fact is that services such as those provided by the Rangers, along with street cleaning, are already provided by organisations who are already paid by BID members through their business rates – which is something they were promised would not happen.
Mr Goulder further undermines his argument when he cites some of the so-called “achievements” of the BID to date.
Top of the list are the rangers – those seldom seen guardians of the town centre, who provide little if anything of a deterrent presence. Indeed, we understand that a lone ranger (forgive the pun) is forbidden to take any action if he encounters an anti-social incident. Elf 'n safety, don't cha know.
Then comes “supplemental” street cleaning. Whilst this apparently costs nothing to provide, it is again something that BID members are already paying for – and if the job is not being done adequately, then something is wrong with the system.
CCTV consultation is also on the list. “CCTV is operated by Boston Borough Council and may be at risk with further cost cutting measures to be undertaken. Benefit - the BID will campaign on your behalf to retain this valuable service.”
Then comes Market Place Refurbishment consultation. “Undertaken last year, the BID was involved in the planning stage.
A road works consultation hotline is in operation for BID members to report issues. In fact they seem to be going very well, and we doubt that there are many issues to report. But if there were, it would be the job of Lincolnshire County Council to provide such a service.
“Consultation” seems to be the BID’s mantra - it's apparently most of what they do.
Then there’s the “BID Crime Reduction Partnership” - which works with “various authorities” to reduce the level of crime in Boston - hard to prove the value of your role in something like that.
The Community Hub project is also something that the BID has staked a claim on. In fact it is a government-funded project which had nothing to do with the BID until the council opted to use the group as an errand boy. Incidentally, under the BID stewardship, the project was delayed for some considerable time. And as we asked the other day – where is the window art that is supposed to be disguising empty shops at a cost of £12,000?
We also note the BID’s involvement in “Boston in Bloom” – which appears to comprise patchy  clusters of scrub at different points around the town.
As we pointed out on Monday, the BID directory is a poorly assembled, inaccurate piece of nonsense – and now this pitiful organisation is planning to produce a map of the town.
Finally, the letter lists “Members Website Pages” - which will enable businesses to have a "presence" on the internet "at no cost."  Find it if you can … we couldn’t. And there is a cost - the unwanted cost of BID membership.

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