As we reported Boston Town Centre Conservation Area’s seventh consecutive year on Historic England’s Buildings at Risk register a couple of weeks ago, we found ourselves wondering – and certainly not for the first time – why it is that Boston Borough Council cannot seem to inspire much ... if anything …at all to help the town improve and prosper.

This week’s blog contains several good – or rather bad – examples of how Worst Street talks the talk, but then rather than walking the walk slumps back in its armchair, puts its civic feet up and takes forty or more winks.

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There really is no reason for the Conservation Area to be in such a parlous state.

Money to improve it has been available in huge quantities for years, but somehow, the council seems unable to encourage people to take up grants or otherwise improve and enhance their properties.

Most recently – well, more than two-and-a-half years ago – the council announced that in partnership with Heritage Lincolnshire it had received initial support for a Townscape Heritage bid from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the town centre.

“Development funding of £73,000 has also been awarded to help Boston Borough Council and Heritage Lincolnshire progress their plans to apply for a full grant at a later date totalling £1,069,000.”

We were told that the aim of the project was to make a further investment to the eastern side of the Market Place “continuing the regeneration of the area through the conservation and enhancement of its historic architecture and street layout.”

Anyone notice much by way of change since then?

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And if you have an even longer memory – as we do – how about winding the clock back eight or nine years, or even more than  a decade, to major regeneration plans for the town.

That’s your teaser for ten – we’ll have more for you in next week’s blog

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Followers of MP Matt Warman’s speeches to the House of Commons – yes, we realise that we must get out more – will  know that that he has a something of a bee in his bonnet about building a teaching hospital in Lincolnshire – with the idea that this will produce more trained doctors to ease the present shortage in the county.

He’s already tackled Prime Minister ‘Daisy’ May on the subject and last week nobbled Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt on the issue.

As with the question to ‘Daisy,’ the answer was tepid and anodyne – but gave us the usual concerns that if anything were to materialise if would be of little benefit to us in Boston.

Mr Hunt replied: “If I may say so, that question was absolutely beautifully put. I do congratulate the staff.

“I have met the staff of Lincoln hospital, although I have not been to all the hospitals in the trust, and it is very nice to see Ms Lee (Karen Lee, Labour MP for Lincoln) in her place.

“Wherever the new medical schools eventually end up, one of the key priorities will be their ability to get more doctors from areas where we are struggling to recruit.”

What does that tell us?

Wherever the new schools go up, we won't get one in Lincolnshire – but  if by some amazing accident of good fortune one did, it would be an adjunct of the lacklustre Lincoln University.

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A rare glitch with our wheelie bin collection service reminded us that as October drew to a close it dawned on us that we had no idea when our last garden waste collection was due.

We wrote and asked and got the information we needed – and several days later, the details appeared on WorstWeb … Boston Borough Council’s website, and also feature as a lengthy recorded message for anyne ringing the Worst Street switchboard. What a good thing ‘phone calls are fairly cheap these days..

But still we wondered why this information hadn’t been sent out to brown bin owners by e-mail, rather than dumped everywhere else in the hope that those affected might stumble across it.

When taxpayers signed up for their garden waste collection they found themmselve automatically subscribed to the council’s dire, pointless, and misnamed newsletter.

The pretext offered was to keep us in touch with news that was relevant to out ownership of a garden waste bin – and we can think of nothing more apposite than to let us know in good time when the service was ending. But nothing  was received.

Perish the thought that the explanation was little more than a red herring to boost readership.

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Talking of red herrings to boost readership, we are hoping that some sort of progress is emerging in our campaign to stop the Boston off-Target tweeting irrelevant stories as being from Boston to boost the number of hits – or visits – that the site receives.

The reason for this is that hits=the modern-day equivalent of circulation/readership=the rates you can charge advertisers.

The Target tweets have been a disgraceful con to achieve this aim – headlining stories such a ‘Fire destroys cottage’ that then link to an incident in Stamford, Lincoln, Gainsborough – and in quite a lot of cases in Nottinghamshire. By the time you realise this, you have already taken the bait.

We tag all of these little ploys as #notabostonstory and point out where they really are.

Refreshingly, this practice seems to have declined in recent days – although it might be because the usual writer is away on holiday.

We’ll keep you posted on progress – and don’t forget you can use the hashtag as well if you want to make your point.

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Further proof that the Worst Street motto should be Too little, too Late appeared in a WorstWeb item dated 9^th November and headed Send us your 'best of Boston' pictures.

It asked: “Would you like to see a photograph of Boston that you have taken and are proud of feature in a 2018 calendar?

“Boston Borough Council is inviting residents to send in their pictures showing Boston at its best.

“Every picture which meets the criteria will be published on the council's Facebook and Twitter pages. A judging panel will select a shortlist of the best and residents will then be invited to choose the top 12 which will feature under the photographer's name in an online calendar available for all to use, download to their phone or other device or print off for free.”

The deadline for entries is midnight on 30^th November – and then with a shortlisting process and public ballot to follow, we think that Worst Street will be hard pressed to get the thing done before 2018 arrives.

Worst Street has dabbled in the calendar business before – in 2015, when Boston Eye sponsored a page, and again the following year.

We heard that it was not quite the success story that had been hoped – which we guess is the reason for nothing appearing in 2017.

But this last minute effort is simply a waste of time.

Most ‘phones or computers have calendars anyway and pictures – whilst nice – take up a lot of space on a small screen.

And given the price of printer ink these days, who in their right mind would want to print off a full-colour calendar?

All we are seeing is yet another piece of last-minute half-hearted slapdash thinking from the Worst Street busywork squad.

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Writing about that reminded us of yet another of the good intentions that pave the Worst Street road to Hell.

Who now recalls Worst Street’s big idea for greater transparency?

It was called Ask the Cabinet – and  there were only ever three … the last of which was almost 18 months ago.

The first involved a session that was webcast, so that electors could watch from home if they wished, and at which those attending in person could submit written requests which gave the cabinet members time to prepare wriggle room and obfuscation before they answered.

That was deemed not to have been a success as it was felt that some people might have felt intimidated by the previous arrangements  so a “more informal, personal and private” session was agreed –  described as “more like a regular councillor surgery” … although we don’t believe that any members hold these any more.

The idea was for residents to turn up to this “first new-style session” without giving advance warning of their questions and be booked in for ten-minute slots with the councillors most appropriate to give them answers.

Whether it worked or not is anyone’s guess, as Worst Street had nothing more to say, and the “first new-style session” became the last– and it was worth noting that some members of the cabinet couldn’t be bothered to attend.

Council leader at the time, Peter Bedford said: “We want to see an interest in what we do, and perhaps what we don't do, and welcome questions on any subject pertinent to the work of the borough council.

“I think this willingness to change and adapt shows we are transparent and open and prepared to give answers to what may be some quite tricky questioning.”

We think that quite the reverse seems to be true and that the Cabinet of Curiosities – interestingly known in German as Kunstkabinett – developed an instant dislike of rubbing shoulders with the riff-raff and being asked to justify their often unjustifiable actions – preferring instead obscurity over transparency.

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It does seem that whenever Worst Street decides to involve itself with its public, enthusiasm becomes as arid as the Gobi Desert.

Whilst the “civilian” group organising this year’s Christmas lighting for the town is going gangbusters, an item on WorstWeb told a different story.

Beneath the heading Businesses getting into the Christmas spirit it reported: “Businesses in Boston are already getting behind this year's Christmas shop windows (sic) display competition and joining in a new advent calendar promotion …”

And how far behind are they getting, we hear you cry …

Whilst the competition has categories for local and independent or multiple and chain stores or charities – and the closing date is Wednesday – enthusiasm so far seems muted to say the least.

Despite a few duplicate listings, the last report listed just fifteen participants – including Boston Borough Council.

Any guesses as to which category Worst Street will be entered into?

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Little appears to have changed since we last voiced a few concerns at the way Boston Big Local appears to have been subsumed in to the world of the Great and the Good.

The organisation has £1 million to spend over ten years on projects to benefit a specific area – described at its creation in 2015 as the six “most deprived” of Boston town centre wards  – Staniland South, Pilgrim, Skirbeck, Boston Central, Witham Ward and a small area of Fenside.

Since then, the political map of the area has been redrawn and the names of some wards changed, but broadly speaking little has changed –  although the project has spread its wings well beyond its initial remit.

Within days of the Big Local being announced, an officer from the South Lincolnshire Community Voluntary Service made it clear that it was to be independent.

 “There’s no government arm in Boston involved in any of this. It is totally community led.

“This money will not be dictated by Boston Borough Council; it will not be dictated by the SLCVS.  It will be totally dictated by the local community. It is their say where this money is spent”

Despite this, we have noted over time that BBL has taken on many of the tasks previously carried out by Boston Borough Council – and which were once funded by Worst Street Central.

Now, WorstWeb is telling its readers that there are “funds available for community events in Boston and seeking applications in for grants totalling £18,000.

WorstWeb went on: “It is again being administered by Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service (LCVS) on behalf of Boston Big Local …

“ … LCVS will also work with groups to support them to ensure they have the right infrastructure in place to successfully deliver an event.

“LCVS can provide advice and information on governance, volunteering support, support with policies and procedures, identifying and meeting training needs and becoming fit to fundraise and run events.”

So, Worst Street is handling the publicity – even though BBL has its own website – whilst SLCVS is vetting and “supporting” the applicants.

Your guess is as good as ours as to quite how this chimes with the assurance: “This money will not be dictated by Boston Borough Council; it will not be dictated by the SLCVS.”

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We mentioned last week the worrying news that Worst Street appears to planning some sort of financial involvement with the luvvy group Transported now that the Arts Council has snapped its sequinned purse shut.

Much of the Transported’s contributions have come across to us as self-indulgent and complacent, and a big worry is now that Worst Street has committed itself to the scarcely relevant Illuminate project until 2010 – when no-one from Boston was involved with the voyage of the so-called Pilgrim Fathers – that some pretty large bills are going to have to be met for that alone.

Meanwhile – as if to underline our points about Transported, Boston in Bloom published the photo above  on Twitter …

We were told that “Workmen … have been hard at work over the last week adding new metal fish sculptures to the wall along Irby Place…”

Would anyone care to tell us why?

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com   

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

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