Don't rush to restore

For more years that we can remember, the Market Place in Boston and the connecting medieval lanes that feed it have been allowed to decline.
Not just to decline, but to be vandalised by the granting of permission for unsuitable signs and frontages that were completely out of character with such an obviously historically important area.
With an extraordinary gift of turning a blind eye, successive councils let old shop fronts be ripped out. Historic buildings that would today be listed were torn down and replaced with modern monstrosities.
A good example was the demolition of the Red Lion coaching in that stood on its site from the Middle Ages until it was demolished to make way for a Woolworth store.
Now, the great and the good are shedding crocodile tears over the architectural wasteland that their predecessors condoned so eagerly – and are rushing to make amends.
That’s something that worries us.
We have moved from a state of supine acceptance of the mess they call the Market Place, to a frenzy which has lasted barely a few months in which a £2 million refurbishment plan has been cobbled together are is due to start and finish later this year.
As our old granny used to say: “More haste, less speed.” She also used to say: “Where’s the gin?” – but that’s another story.
Even before a new slab has been laid – let alone an old one removed – Boston Borough Council has announced a scheme to help property owners of historic buildings in the area restore and repair their premises.
English Heritage has approved an application by Boston Borough Council for grant funding – with £120,000 ring fenced for a first phase and more money following a review after the first year.
The first £50,000 is available immediately and will not require match funding.

Eligible properties will include shop fronts and the floors above them, and most of them are either listed or “sensitive.”

The grant scheme will be kept as simple as possible on the basis of a straight 50% of eligible costs for repairs and 90% for reinstatements.

All of this sounds such good news, that we wonder why we seem to hear the downhill pattering of the first small stones that presage an avalanche.

Surely, repair and reinstatement of the buildings surrounding the Market Place ought not to begin until we can see what sort of Market Place we have once refurbishment is complete.
It may well be that an improved frontage done now will look inapparopriate once the Market Place works are finished, when – if we had held our fire – we might have spotted a few adjustments that would have made a world of difference.
The starter money of £50,000 will go nowhere these days. How many premises can it help with? Would it not be more prudent to wait until the kitty is larger, and thus more effective?
Then there is mention of “reoccupation” of upper floors of some shops. A hundred and fifty years ago, town centres were more vibrant because people lived above their shops.
But that was because they had to. Most of them could not afford an out of town house as well as their business premises. Shops stayed open for longer, town centres were busier. It was a different level of business and social life.
This is now no longer the case. To put money into the pockets of landlords whose sole aim is to make a quick profit from their tenants would be to waste it.
There is not enough money available for this sort of luxury, which would only dump people in the centre of a town where the only thing to do after 6pm is to go to the pub. Not a good idea.
Softly, softly please, Boston Borough Council.
Spend the money wisely and well, rather than fritter it away as soon as you get it and regret your actions later.

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