We were told of at least one business whose owner has already decided not to try to carry on, and has shut up shop.
Another feels he has already suffered from the road disruptions – and now has to brace himself for the Market Place debacle.
He also closed early one afternoon last week when the footbridge was shut for repairs as it killed the Church Lane area of the town for the period it was closed.
And of course, that’s just the start.
The Market Place regeneration is starting later than planned and is expected to take longer to complete than first thought.
And if it is completed on schedule in March next year, there’s just a few weeks’ breathing space before consultations start on replacing the footbridge over the River Haven and all the problems this will generate.
We would have thought that the organisation tasked with representing the interests of business in Boston might have had a word or two to say about all this – but Boston’s BID – the Business Improvement District – has maintained a lofty silence throughout.
The last time the Market Place refurbishment was mentioned was in passing in the January board meeting minutes, which mentioned an upcoming consultation meeting.
Whether anyone attended or not is unknown, since there has been no further mention of the issue.
The last board meeting was on February 6th. It was attended by six directors, with apologies from four.
No board minutes have been published since then.
No mention of the Market Place scheme has been made on either the BID’s website or in its newsletter – apart from one bragging about an advert in the Nottingham Trent Journal inviting visitors to visit the market – just as it is about to become a building site!
Meanwhile, business is left in uncertainty over their future and the likely deleterious effect on custom.
Local traders are charged a compulsory levy equivalent to one per-cent of their business tax to support the BID – and are dragged through the courts by Boston Borough Council and criminalised if they refuse to pay.
The home grown parasite siphons off £125,000 a year from Boston business, and is supposed to generate a similar sum in matched funding. In its two and a half year existence – half of its agreed lifespan - it has produced little if anything, aside from the Town Rangers … which are a doubtful asset at best.
For weeks and weeks, the BID has been operating on a mobile telephone number because of unspecified problems – but is now proudly proclaiming the restoration of its “telephony.”
Earlier this year, Boston Borough Council concluded a “Task and Finish” report into the workings of Boston BID.
Among other things, it concluded that an overall improvement was required in communications between all persons involved within the BID company. Suggestions included board members supporting dedicated parts of the BID area, the issuing of dates for meetings, and the issue of general correspondence and information from the BID manager to improve significantly.
The report also recommended that all board meetings are open to members and that a 10-15 minute time slot be allocated at the beginning of each meeting to allow questions or statements by members.
Little of the above is possible, of course, when the board apparently meets so infrequently – and when it does is barely quorate. In fact two of last year’s final three meetings had to be abandoned for just that reason.
The Task and Finish Group also called for a report on the progress of the BID to be bought back to its committee next spring, for members to monitor the recommendations put forward.
Given the BID’s disgraceful showing in the three months since that report was filed, we think that something needs doing now.
Many of Boston’s businesses are balanced on a knife edge, and traders deserve better than this.
Is it any wonder that so few of them bothered to attend the recent shopkeepers’ meeting staged by the council?
You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.
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