Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and events

Yesterday’s blog on car parking and the inequalities of allowing borough council staff and members a free pass while the rest of us have to pay, yielded some interesting information. It appears that one borough councillor gifted with a conscience has worked out what his or her “free” parking is worth - and chips in the appropriate amount from his/her allowance. If all other councillors did the same, we reckon that it could pay between £2,500 and £3,000 back into the system. It may sound like a drop in the ocean - but at least it would be a nod to the Tory claims that “we are all in this together.”
As the Boston Borough Council Task and Finish group - which is looking at the pressures caused by immigration - continues its evidence gathering sessions, we are reminded that senior councillors and officers from the other district councils in Lincolnshire agreed to attend a meeting about immigration in Boston. The invitation was issued by council leader Peter Bedford, who argued that immigration affected Lincolnshire as a whole - not just a local area. When the meeting was announced – around two months ago – we were told that neither a date nor an agenda had been set … which still appears to be the case. After so long, we are beginning to wonder whether the idea has been quietly dropped.
Meanwhile, a reader salutes our “spot on summary” of events at the Task and Finish group. “To date it has been a politically correct whitewash,” he writes. “The police inspector disagreed with the report in the local press that more foreign drivers have been convicted of drink driving and motoring offences than the indigenous population, and  appeared surprised when the reporter told him that the figures had come from  the Road Safety Partnership. At the meeting with union representatives and the job centre manager, the union reps were adamant that the influx of some 30,000 immigrants into Boston has had no detrimental effect on the job market at all….  It appears that as long as the unions get their subs and the union reps keep their well-paid jobs it's of no consequence who pays for it. I don't suppose yesterday’s meeting with the head teachers will have been any different. They will have to toe the line for fear of rocking the boat and putting themselves in the firing line -  plus of course the government pours in lots more resources to schools with large numbers of immigrant children …  so you have to ask why are  they going to complain.  The problem is the government and all the organisations that rule our sorry lives think we are all stupid and live in la-la land.”

Apparently, some people completing the coupons in the local “newspapers” to register an interest in the brown bin garden waste collection scheme, were left a little red-faced when they presented them at Worst Street and were then asked to stump up their £20 as well. A similar “registration” scheme, which had  also appeared on the borough’s website vanished shortly afterwards. Now, the only way is to pay up – although there were problems doing that online for a couple of days earlier in the week. Even now, it is not easy. The steps to follow are 1: Click on the “Make a payment tab.” 2: Click on the “Make an online payment” tab.  3: Click on the “Other payments” link. 4: Click on the “garden waste collection” link. – it’s one of the options in a column of thirty-four choices (see right.)  5: In the box that drops down, click on the arrow next to “select one” – and select the only  one option that appears …  “Garden Waste Bin - One Off payment.”  And then … at last … an application  form appears. Surely, a simple “click here” link from the front page of the website to the form would do much to simplify things and possibly encourage more people to sign up. We understand that bins aren’t being ordered until the council decides that a reasonable number of applications have been made. Something that gives us a frisson of fear is the boast this week that just 37 people have so far paid for a bin, and 203 have expressed interest. Two hundred and forty households out of around 26,000 –  set against an earlier deadline of 14^th  May when registrations were being taken – makes us wonder what the council will do if too few people want the service … as it is banning existing collections of garden waste from green wheelie bins once the new service takes effect. We are also  intrigued by the offer on the borough website of a chance to “WIN your BIN.” That’s all it says. Would someone tell us more, please?

Monday’s blog about preserving the names of the Skirbeck and Pilgrim wards because of their heritage connections struck a chord with Independent Boston Borough Councillor for Witham Ward, Carol Taylor. “During the past two weeks I have learned about the wonderful history of Skirbeck and confess to not knowing anything about it before Reverend Noble educated me on the subject,” she e-mails.  “This has now led me to investigate further not only the historical background of Boston, but also the ward I represent. It is clear that Boston leaves many other towns/cities in the shade when it comes to heritage. Boston Borough Council has in its midst Councillor Paul Mould, who has an incredible knowledge concerning this very topic and is an accomplished author.  I think it would be remiss if we don't utilise this gentleman's knowledge to further enhance the promotion of history/heritage. Would it not be possible for Councillor Mould to be given portfolio status in recognition that this subject is a matter of great pride to all of us in Boston and the surrounding areas? I realise that heritage already has a portfolio holder, but why not break with tradition and have heritage/history as a separate entity to attract visitors -  but more importantly the education of our children and indeed people like me,  so that great pride is at the forefront in Boston.”  The current holder of the heritage portfolio is none other than the Respected and Beloved Leader, Councillor Peter Bedford, who numbers - among his borough council responsibilities - coastal strategy, strategic planning, conservation, the local development framework, county and regional partnerships, transformation programme, development control, port of Boston, regeneration, and media. On top of that the man who needs two deputies is a bigwig at County Hall as well. So perhaps it might be an goexcellent suggestion to hand responsibilty for heritage to someone who knows whereof he speaks!

One of those stories that appears from nowhere is currently doing the rounds. It concerns last week’s sausage and mash supper at the Conservative Club to mark St George’s Day and raise funds for the Mayor’s pet charities.  The tale goes that as 8pm arrived, the food didn’t – and there was a frantic rush around the corner to make the shortage good with fish and chips from Tate’s. Did it happen? We asked Boston Borough Council. They didn’t reply.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that little has been heard about the forthcoming Jubilee party in Central Park which is being paid for by the Boston Town Area Committee. Although £5,000 was set aside for the event, we hear that half of that will now be spent as,  only around 1,000 visitors are expected – and the lion’s share of the money will go on portable loos.  We’re told that there will be no bunting, no fireworks - but there will be two ladies in Polish national dress for some reason.  The cabbage bowing will go ahead as planned, and there are dire murmurings about some stuff and nonsense involving Morris Dancing. The word karaoke is also being muttered alongside the name of a venerable councillor.
Ironically, in the same week that Independent borough Councillor Ossy Snell has written to the local press about the lack of support from Lincolnshire County Council for a Boston bypass, there is more news of the county’s largesse elsewhere in this respect. Plans have been announced for a relief road and up to 4,000 new houses in Grantham with County Hall putting up £30m for the new road. The county said that the plans would help deal with a growing population and ease congestion through the town centre. As well as building new housing estates, the scheme will include schools and shopping facilities. County Council Leader Martin Hill said: "The new road will help remove traffic from the town centre as well as service the new homes and businesses. We have made provision for it within our budget to help speed up its construction." As Councillor Snell points out, as far as Boston is concerned, County Hall feels that we don’t need a bypass because they have improved our walking and cycling routes, and the Into Town bus service. That’s all very fine if you are fit enough to walk or cycle, or if the bus passes near your front door.  What make matters even worse is that not only does Boston urgently need a bypass, some extra homes and schools would be very welcome as well. When will our local conservative “leaders” start rattling Lincoln’s cage to stop Boston being treated as a second class town, we wonder?
For reasons that we cannot understand, we are often accused of having a bit of a down on Boston Borough Council. So we are happy to take up cudgels on its behalf following a letter in one of our local “newspapers” which accused the borough of over-charging for the removal of large items of rubbish.  The item in question was a sofa – and the charge to collect it and dispose of it was £15. The writer of the letter felt that such a cost made fly tipping acceptable. Rubbish – if you will excuse the word!. It takes two people and a vehicle to make a special trip to a specific address before loading a heavy and bulky item aboard and then delivering it to the tip. Try whichever man in a white van that you wish, but we are sure that you will get no change from at least £25 - with no guarantee that your sofa won't be fly-tipped. The Borough Council service is helpful, available, affordable and efficient.

A reader has been in touch to express disappointment

at the response from the Boston Standard to a story on its website (see our picture on the right.) When the fuel tanker drivers' talks broke down last week the Standard’s response was to run a story in the local news section accompanied by no fewer than three video clips of panicking drivers queuing for fuel some weeks ago.  A protest to the editor evoked a reply from his deputy: “As is common with all media, be it broadcast or print, we used recent archive footage to show the events that happened in the town. It is made clear in the body of the text that this video relates back to the beginning of April. It is clear that the story is of great interest to our readers, particularly in an area so reliant on fuelto get around. For that reason we put on a short piece outlining the latest news on the matter.” Later, word went around the town of motorists queuing for fuel in a repeat of the panic at the beginning of the month. Co-incidence, perhaps?  Our reader sent another e-mail expressing concern about this, but no reply was forthcoming.  And guess what, the news that a further round of talks had been held and adjourned with no immediate threat of a strike have gone unreported – but yesterday the panic reports were still there.

All this reminded us of a passage from Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel “Scoop,” about journalists and journalism - and an anecdote concerning the fictional Wenlock Jakes, the highest paid journalist in America: “Once Jakes went out to cover a revolution in one of the Balkan capitals. He overslept in his carriage, woke up at the wrong station, didn't know any different, got out, went straight to a hotel, and cabled off a thousand word story about barricades in the streets, flaming churches, machine guns answering the rattle of his typewriter as he wrote, a dead child, like a broken doll, spreadeagled in the deserted roadway below his window .... That day every special [reporter] in Europe got orders to rush to the new revolution. They arrived in shoals. Everything seemed quiet enough, but it was as much as their jobs were worth to say so, with Jakes filing a thousand words of blood and thunder a day. So they chimed in too. Government stocks dropped, financial pains, state of emergency declared, army mobilized, famine, mutiny -- and in less than a week there was an honest to God revolution underway, just as Jakes had said. There's the power of the press for you.” Agreed. Power without responsibility!

Finally ...  we ahve been prpomised Cabbage bowling,  and the possibility of Morris Dancing.  So what else could Boston Borough Council come up with to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee? We stumbled  across one record attempt that took our fancy in the form of a world record bid for bee handling, which took place recently in China. Could it work in Central Park? And is there a councillor brave enough to pose for this photo opportunity? But if so ,  who could differentiate between the bees and the silly B’s? Answers on a postcard, please.

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

Our former blog is archived at: http://bostoneyelincolnshire.blogspot.com