Assuming that the sojourners from Boston Borough Council can drag themselves away from their
As it is a “special” meeting there is only one agenda item - and “in accordance with the provisions of the council’s constitution” no questions will be allowed from councillors or the public
Fate forfend that anyone would consider easing the rules so as to let a little democratic sunlight into the stygian council chamber.
To highlight the decision not to allow the public to speak, Boston Disability Forum will be holding a silent protest, from 5.45pm until 6.15pm outside the Worst Street municipal buildings.
Meanwhile, their petition against the charges on a national website has reached almost 100.
However, the council is used to dismissing objections.
Time and again, its 86-page, 26,743 word report rebuts objections and even goes so far as to recommend accepting the report immediately after the two and a half page introductory summary.
Interesting lines such as “Disabled people will not, through the introduction of charges, be treated any less favourably than non-disabled people” echo the pitiful argument of Councillor Derek Richmond - who insisted that disabled people resent free parking because it discriminates against them, and his colleague Gloria Smith, who subsequently uttered the even more pathetic “It’s nice that we are not going to be discriminated against, we are going to be treated as equal and being charged.”
Now, is that crawling, or is that crawling?
One minor but contentious concession has been to allow disabled people an extra 30 “free” minutes of parking time for the same price as able-bodied people to give them time in which to hobble back to their cars. But this is not “free” as the council claims - since it has hitherto not been charged for.
Another is that the charges will not apply to the 147 spaces in the five on-street car parks operated by Boston Borough Council
Given that many drivers use these spaces for parking to avoid the main car parks, such spaces are likely to be at a premium.
A more considerate and imaginative solution would have been to make all of those spaces available to the disabled – but of course, that would reduce the takings, wouldn’t it?
There is also an issue about the ability of the disabled to use the ticket dispensing machines – for which the council has proposed “some alternative methods of payment.”
But the bottom line – as it so often is with our caring Conservative leadership - is making money.
The report points out “Blue Badge holders occupy up to 16% of spaces in council operated car parks for which they are currently not charged. Income from these spaces could be used to improve the council’s parking stock and to ensure effective ongoing management.”
We hope that this means the council will have more money to spend on the quality of car parks – which in some areas leaves a lot to be desired.
But - as we pointed out in the case of the Assembly Rooms – which are now being sold because the council can’t afford to redecorate or maintain them - a regular and reasonable annual financial allocation in the past few years would have abrogated the need for major spending in one lump.
Instead, the council prooposes to make what it calls “savings” – and the easiest way to do this is via the opposite route - “charging” for a service, but to call this an “economy.”
We hope that anyone who can spare the time will try to get along to tomorrow night’s meeting to see our leadership’s idea of democracy in action.
And although we’ve mentioned it several times before, it is worth pointing out yet again that - despite all the flatulent justification for introducing charges in the name of equality – there will soon be just one group of around 200 people in
They are the members and officers of Boston Borough Council.
As George Orwell so perfectly summarised it in his novel Animal Farm …
"All animals are
equal, but some animals are more equal
than others"
Our former blog is archived at: http://bostoneyelincolnshire.blogspot.com
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