It seems that when it comes to bypasses, nothing is too good for the people of Lincoln. The Tory leadership of Lincolnshire County Council has just taken what they call a “calculated risk” with a last-ditch £48 million offer towards a 4.88-mile Lincoln eastern bypass.

It represents an increase of £33.9 million on the previous figure of £13.8 million, and if the government takes the bait, the county council expects to take the money from reserves rather than borrowing. The extra money will be blagged back over twenty years from housing developers, district councils and other groups who will benefit from the bypass.
Astonishingly for a £10 million a mile price tag, the road has already been downgraded from a dual to a single carriageway to try to keep the government onside.
Some bypass!
The county council’s desperation has been noted by Boston’s Labour councillors, who want to know when our local Tory administration is going to put pressure on “their Conservative friends” at County Hall to make the same kind of commitment that they are making to Lincoln.
“What we don’t want to see happen in the next four years is Boston’s new administration staying silent to the County Council, similar to the previous administration,” they say. “So let’s see some action, as the recent benefits will soon be lost again by the ever increasing amount of traffic on our roads.”
The councillors also comment on the ironic situation in Spalding, which has a choice of two routes for a Spalding Western Relief Road. But both routes would cut through local allotments - which has provoked objections to the plans.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have that option?” says the Labour group. “Isn’t Boston just as deserving of a bypass as Lincoln and Spalding for our economic success?”
Of course it is – it’s just that our local leaders appear willing to be led by their masters in Lincoln – which means we’ll probably never hear about a bypass for Boston again.
At the same time as the Spalding bypass issue, comes news of cash help to revamp and renovate historic shops and offices in Spalding, Crowland, Holbeach and Long Sutton
Traditional work to reinstate the authentic look of properties could be part paid through a something called the Partnership Schemes in Conservation Areas, which is run by South Holland District Council and English Heritage - and since 2007, more than £600,000 has been handed out.
Twenty-five buildings have been worked on - with an average grant of more than £24,000.
What intrigues us is that whilst South Holland District Council can walk the walk – all Boston Borough Council seems capable of is talking the talk.
As long ago as 2004, the Heritage Lottery Fund granted the council a Townscape Heritage Initiative worth up to £860,000 - but it was withdrawn in 2008 as it was unable to be delivered.
More recently, but still as long ago as 2008, the council was talking to English Heritage about investing in just such a project as the one that’s operating in South Holland.
An English Heritage spokesman said at the time: “We don't invest massive amounts every year but when we're interested in a place we'll consistently invest over a period of time. It might take seven or eight years to regenerate a place. In Boston it might take longer" In one town they spent 15 years helping shop owners do their places up and convert space over shops for residential use.
How is it that other local authorities seem able to short circuit the system and get money released in quantity for essential projects, whilst in Boston, they sit on their backsides while absolutely nothing happens?
In the time that Boston has been talking, South Holland has spent more than half a million pounds.

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