Time to stem

this flood saga

We’ll have more to say about the proposed revamp of Boston Market Place next week, as we still have a couple of outstanding issues from the Christmas/New Year break to deal with.
But a quick glance at the plans suggests that – at the thick end of £2 million – this will be the most expensive re-arrangement of deckchairs on the Titanic that Boston has ever seen.
But back to business.
This year marks the 201st anniversary of the last serious flooding in Boston.
How do we know that?
Because of Boston Borough Council’s ceaseless obsession to ram last year’s exhibition marking the 200th anniversary down our throats – even though it came and went more than two months ago.
News of Boston 200 has appeared in every borough bulletin since last August, and we have lost count of the number of words that have been lavished on what was nothing more than a bog-standard collection of display boards that drew a paltry 1,300 visitors over four days.
Now, instead of slowly sinking down the borough’s website like a waterlogged piece of flotsam, it has bobbed back up the list, and seems unwilling to go away.
Proclaiming a “virtual tour” of the exhibition, the site links to a commercial video – including a generous plug to buy one.
In fact, nothing will stop us from rushing out to get our copy of “Mud, dykes and draglines” before they fly off the shelves.
There is also a link to a thirty-three page file.
Boston 200 was the creation and obsession of council leader Richard Austin - and apart from that, we can think of no reason why it should receive such disproportionate publicity.
It popped up recently in a letter to the local papers, which addressed a number of other contentious local issues.
For once, Councillor Austin found himself in agreement with the Conservative opposition leader when he acknowledged Boston’s lacklustre Christmas lights.
But he still tried to blame this on someone else.
The lights were bought some years ago by “the last Tory-led administration,” he said. Technically this is correct, although Boston has been under “no overall control” since local government re-organisation in 1973 – a total of nine elections before the BBI stole the council under false pretences.
Moving on, Councillor Austin takes on the Boston 200 exhibition.
It appears that “it has become difficult for us to judge its value” because of a “boycott” by the Tory councillors. A variation of “a big boy did it and ran away.”
Finally he defends his other pet project – the Roll of Achievement.
From being a major feature of borough life it is now dismissed as “simply a page on the borough website that anyone can use” to give any Tom, Dick or Harry a plug. It sounds as though he has rapidly become bored with the project.
One final observation: In the early days, the borough website vacillated between spellings – using both “Role” and “Roll” of Achievement.
Councillor Austin’s letter to the Boston Target appeared with the spelling “Role” in both instances.
Councillor Austin’s letter to the Boston Standard sees the first instance corrected to “Roll” and the second amended to the pronoun “it.”
We shudder to suggest it – but was it Councillor Austin who didn’t know the correct spelling of his own creation?
Boston 200 was ok as an exhibition – but to continue to force it on to us in the way that is happening send only one message- “Come to Boston – flood capital of the country.”

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