Day three of our special report

The party's over before it's begun.

Boston BID  needs looking at before next spring...

Aside from throwing money at free parties Boston BID’s spending to date does not stand close scrutiny.

First there was the spectacularly incompetent 2010 business directory– published in September last year at a cost of £10,000 … which made it almost out of date from the outset.
The 48-page glossy publication listed businesses by category - starting with butchers and bakers, then car, charity, financial, food, hair and beauty, health, “information,” leisure (which included pubs and Boston Conservative Club,) property, and a catch-all called “retail” – which included businesses the directory apparently couldn’t be bothered to categorise, which rendered the entire exercise pointless.
Equally unhelpful was the fact that - aside from the main headings - there was no attempt to put businesses in alphabetical order ...  so you had to spend ages wading through the hundreds of randomly listed firms to find the one you wanted.
A list of the town’s “attractions” included the Maude (wrong spelling) Foster Windmill, Church Street, Boston Stump, Pescod Hall (a sandwich shop,) Shodfriars Hall (not open to the general public,) Fydell House, and ... that jewel in the crown of attractions – Cammacks! The Guildhall? Not there.
Now, we have the famous "mapping project" – begun almost  a year ago, and due to be delivered by March - but which has not yet materialised.

click to enlarge image

Instead of an ordinary map that everyone can understand, the BID has come up with a 3D version – (pictured right) which whilst decorative and imaginative – fails to deliver a map’s basic promise … to be something people can use to navigate with. 
In September last year a board meeting was told that there would be a £9,000 charge for producing the maps and £7,500 for an initial purchase of 25,000 copies – or 66p a copy.
But by the November meeting (October was cancelled because not enough members bothered to turn up) the cost had been “quantified” at a maximum of £17,000 to include 10,000 map booklets – or £1.70p per map – an unexplained rise of £1.04 a copy.
The latest piece of BIDdery pokery concerns tourist information boards.
The BID website proudly proclaims that it “has taken over responsibility for the maintenance of the Tourist Information Point boards  (example left) that are located in the town. “There are currently seven of these boards and they have not had any meaningful information in them for some time (a bit like the BID website, then) and are not in the best of condition (again, a bit like the BID.)
“As a first step we have removed the boards and taken them to a secret location where they are undergoing refurbishment which involves a complete strip down, replacement of rubber seals and locks, new perspex windows and a respray. Once the refurbishment is completed the boards will be returned to their original locations and will have useful information about the town and forthcoming events.”
Are they serious?
“A secret location?” What it this – Boy’s Own Paper?
Why is it we think that by the time the BID has finished, it would have been quicker and cheaper to buy new information boards – although given the performance with the maps, this may not have been the case.
Earlier this year, a group appointed by Boston Borough Council examined the BID - after complaints that it was failing to deliver.
A key recommendation was that  "overall improvement" was needed in communications between everyone involved in the BID company.
Other suggestions included appointing area representatives as intermediaries between the board and members, and for board members to support dedicated parts of the BID area.
There was also a demand for the issuing of dates of meetings and general correspondence and information from the BID manager to be improved significantly, and that all board meetings should be open to members with a timeslot for questions and statements.
And what has happened?
No recent information has appeared on the website.
The BID has now declared that it will no longer publish minutes of board meetings – because there is no requirement for it to do so.
The borough council group said that a report on the progress of the BID should be bought back to the committee in Spring 2012, for members to monitor the group's recommendations.
Given what is going on, that is far long to wait -  as not only have the recommendations that could have been implemented appear to have been ignored - but the situation seems to have worsened ... impossible though it might seem.
The committee that discussed the BID comprised five councillors – all of whom were re-elected in May.
Two of them are now joint deputy leaders Michael Brookes and Raymond Singleton-McGuire, whilst a third is another senior cabinet member, Mike Gilbert.
But many new councillors have now arrived on the scene, whom we believe may know nothing of the dreadful BID debacle.
We urge them to find out more … then press for prompt action if they feel it is necessary - and not let the company bump along the bottom for another six or seven months throwing away members’ hard-earned money like confetti in the meantime.
The council - particularly as it is now run by the party that “represents business” - has a responsibility and a duty of care to local companies trapped in the BID’s sticky web.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.