So many people are credited with making the above quote that we’re not even going to try to attribute it to any individual – but it’s very obviously true.

A good example has appeared on the Worst Street website – beneath the headline ‘Relief as anti-social behaviour reaches an end.’

WorstWeb reports that a family at Frampton Place is celebrating an end to daily incidents of anti-social behaviour outside their home after a piece of land next to it was cleared.

The plot contained overgrown trees which camouflaged fly-tipping, drug taking, litter dumping and “social gatherings.”

The report says the area was cleaned up “thanks to teams at Boston Borough Council, Lincolnshire County Council and Staniland Ward Councillor Brian Rush.”

***

So, what are the two sides to the story?

The first is that it reminds us that the Worst Street approach to anti-social behaviour involving any form of foliage is one of slash and burn. Hack down the trees that give the miscreants cover – something that we have seen all around the town … sadly in places such as Central Park, where large areas of plantings have simply been uprooted to deny their use as outdoor lavatories, ‘shooting’ galleries or overnight accommodation.

This is the worst kind of response – because it lets the bad guys win.

Instead of properly supervising and managing the problem areas, Worst Street and its acolytes take the easy way out and destroy the problem with chainsaws.

This land must have been owned either by Worst Street or Clownty Hall – so why was the problem allowed to continue for as long as it did?

***

The other side of the story is that it demonstrates the lack of engagement by councillors as a whole.

With the exception of Councillor Rush, we can recall no other such report appearing on WorstWeb since the 2015 local elections.

One reason why it is so important that we are kept informed of the help that our councillors give to their ward members is to show that they are there for a purpose; that the role has worth and that councillors are not just a rubber-stamping, aloof band who think themselves a cut about the rest and draw generous expenses for doing very little … or nothing at all in some cases.

***

Ironically – given Worst Street’s total disinterest in promoting National Democracy Week – it is now urging us to register to vote.

Locals are being warned not to “lose their voice on matters that affect them” by completing their annual canvass form and returning it as soon as possible. 

“With Borough and Parish Council elections taking place in the Boston Borough area in May 2019, this is an important opportunity for residents to make sure they can take part,” the council dribbles.

Why the enthusiasm for this, when National Democracy Week was allowed to pass unnoticed?

Could it be that Worst Street can fine you if you fail to complete the form to appear on  the electoral roll?

Perish the thought.  

***

Perhaps the impending elections – May isn’t really that far away – might have had something to do with the fact that fifteen questions were asked by councillors of their cabinet colleagues at the last full council  meeting.

As usual, one had to attend the meeting to know, as these items – plus any questions from the public – were not listed on the agenda … even though they have to be submitted well enough in advance for this to be done, and appeared in the past with no apparent problem.

***

Then there was the aim and nature of the questions …

Of the fifteen, seven were posed by Councillor Jonathan Noble – a one-time UKIP deputy leader at Worst Street, who stood as the Kippers’ choice for Louth at the 2017 general election and subsequently became a born-again Conservative.

Councillor Brian Rush posed four questions, with Councillors Barrie Pierpoint and Anton Dani – his fellow members of the newly-formed Bostonian Independents Group – equal with two each.

Our reader who sent the details to us declared them to be questions and ‘non-questions’ – and it’s easy to see why. He also reckoned that they would have taken at least an hour properly to be dealt with

Councillor Noble’s questions were the night’s nons … of a variety aimed at giving the interrogatees a platform to boast of their achievements – and hence targeted at the appropriate portfolio holders asking …

“What steps are being taken by the council to improve the appearance of the town centre?”

“What events have the council staged or will stage this year to promote Boston as an attractive tourist destination?”

“How effective have the two 3GS workers been in reducing dog fouling and littering?”

“What have been the material benefits of employing three BTAC workers?”

“How much money came into the council's coffers in the last financial year as a result of charging for the garden waste bin service?”

“How many toilet facilities in the town centre are now available for the general public and tourists?”

“What steps are the council taking to reduce the incidence of fly tipping in the Borough?”

***

We think by now that you get the drift – a smarm offensive by Mr Noble to allow his under-pressure colleagues to brag about their so-called ‘achievements.’

We’ve seen the same brown-nosing in parliament where a set-piece question paves the way for a minister from the Prime Minister downwards to wave the party flag.

***

By contrast, Councillor Rush’s questions were distinctly different – asking about local health services: “I am trying to ascertain whether the Boston Borough Conservative group are going to stand together with the distraught Mothers of Boston, in resistance, or support your MP Matt Warman, and ULHT's re-location to Lincoln of the Children's Ward?”

Or on issues of planning: “The BiG group would like to congratulate the Planning Committee for giving planning permission to the new Shopping Centre Development on Red Lion Street Car Park. (I have to admit that despite some serious reservations, I did vote for it, more out of hope than excitement.)

“However did we not once before, have full plans accepted, for a similar development on the Bus Stop Car park, would this not have been a more attractive, if regurgitated proposition than Red Lion Street and was it not considered?”

We can answer that one …

A huge development was planned for the bus terminus and West Street area named Merchants Key – which failed after Debenhams, which would have been the ‘key’ store on which to hang the project backed out.

And incidentally – given some reservations over the viability of any more development – we see that the Mint supermarket on Boston Shopping Park off Horncastle Road, which opened just over a year ago appears to have stopped trading.

***

But back to the council question marathon.

Councillor Pierpoint asked if  “the proposed and agreed £20 million loan agreed by the full council recently, has been secured and if so on what basis and terms?"
Given the farce over the mysterious £1 million loan which is costing us £100,000 every year until armageddon  the question was well made.

More pointedly, he asked council leader Michael Cooper: “Throughout our constitution, we see that this council claims to subscribe to the principles of fairness, openness and transparency. Such principles are considered by a free and fair society to be the vital building blocks of democratic society.

“If we are to believe that, how then can we claim to also be an advocate, of inclusivity, whilst blatantly operating an elitist Cabinet System?"

***

Councillor Dani raised the question:  "Lately we have noticed an instability of officers in the planning department, do you think that will affect the credibility of the Boston Borough Council in their decisions?”

He also asked: "Am I right in my estimation that Lincolnshire County Council demands about 60% of this Borough's council tax?

“Why is this and how much of that is reinvested in Boston?"

Perhaps the evening saw the creation of a new collective noun – we have a bloat of hippos, a murder of ravens … and now we can add an instability of planning officers!

***

Make a note in your diary – although these questions were asked at the full council meeting of 9^th July – we won’t get to read the answers until the agenda is issued for the next full council meeting … on 24^th September.

This is yet another example of a council that tries to keep its business as remote as possible from the people who elected it and who fund it.

***

But Worst Street is not alone in this – there is serious aiding and abetting on the part of our so-called local newspapers as well.

The meeting where all the questions were asked also passed a vote of no confidence in the bosses of the trust which runs Pilgrim Hospital and called on Worst Street’s leader and chief executive to raise their concerns with the Government and MP Matt Warman.
No mention was made of any of the questions.

Afterwards a news release from the Bostonian Independent Group – which dismissively appeared as a reader’s letter in one paper – said that all councillors agreed that Mr Warman hadn’t done enough, and were far from happy that he supported the trust board’s ‘lacklustre’ strategy for future development of the Pilgrim Hospital “which the majority of people in Boston is against. It reduces services, not maintains them.”

BiG also criticised Tory Councillor Tom Ashton, for being the only councillor to support Mr Warman.

It said that Councillor Ashton is a councillor in two authorities – Boston Borough and East Lindsey District – and also a Lincolnshire county councillor “claiming around £20,000 in allowances” and asking: “How can a councillor serve three wards of residents in different areas and be effective?”

A spokesperson for BiG said: “Boston councillors now have to unite to put pressure on Matt Warman, the Government, and the new Health Secretary to come up with more funding, more investment, more resources, more doctors, more nurses, and give more for the people of Boston – a decent, proper and deserved health service at the Pilgrim Hospital.”

Why is our local press so scared of publishing any criticism of the Conservatives?

It should be unbiased and unafraid – yet we fear that it is not.

***

The Boston Sausage Festival was damned with faint praise on WorstWeb – being declared a success on the basis of a handful of Facebook comments – one of which simply read “MMmm sausages” ... and a photo which showed how sparse attendance was  ...  while local ‘newspaper’  pictures showed some splendid support for the event thanks to a number of Worst Street officers!

At the 11^th hour, the event was rechristened – to change it from a beer and sausage festival to a music festival at which you could buy a pint and a sausage!

That struck a Hmmm alert for us – which by all accounts was well justified.

On the day, readers tweeted us at what should have been the peak time – as the under-18 yoof attendees were being given the bum’s rush ahead of their favourite bands striking up – to ask why Worst Street “waited until the last minute to promote it?  Same with the Viking thing? This is so sad.”

One of our reader’s best guesses was that attendance was around 300 –  borne out by the fact that tickets were still available at the last minute for the ‘early bird’ price of £3.50 …  which was a charge made for the first 500 tickets sold only.

Another reader questioned what Worst Street did to promote the event – and the answer appears to be … not much.

Well, it did send the poor devil pictured on the right on a tour of the town purportedly dressed as a sausage.

The costume was actually a hot dog, which is made using a frankfurter –  not the sort of sausage that Boston is famed for. 
It also bore a close resemblance to the famous Rolling Stones Mick Jagger ‘tongue’ logo.

***

Still, there’s nothing bad about confidence  …

… although we felt that  the Worst Street weakly bulletin and WorstWeb had overstepped the mark and entered the realm of presumption, rather than hopeful anticipation.

***

With an unerring ability for stating the obvious, the glacially slow-moving Task and Finish group looking at the future of Boston Market has come up with yet another report.

It summarises the “Key Headline” outcomes from consultation with the public and comes up with these devastatingly unsurprising results…

• The Market looked tired and rundown.
• The council need to promote the market better. 
• Years ago buses packed the bus station in the summer and the market was full.
• The Market Place with empty shops was run down and too big for the market.
• New canopies were needed to brighten the stalls and make them all the same as in other markets in the country.
• The council needed to bring the Farmers' Market back and promote it better.
• New products were needed on the market – a lot of what was sold was cheap ... and quality goods were needed to encourage people.

And finally …

Pedestrianise the market. Stop the buses

Many people have been saying the self-same things since Noah was a lad – and the issue of buses herding people aside as they spread noise, oil and fumes around Strait Bargate  was discussed with the operator last October and a possible solution was put forward.

Since then … guess what?

Nothing.

***

The Task and Finish group began life as something called Prosperous Boston, and held its first meeting in September 2015.

The conclusion of the latest phase declares: “The markets review produced quality consultation responses which confirmed support for the continuation of Boston’s markets from both members of the public including students and from the many businesses in and around the town.

“Furthermore the responses provided options on a number of new ways of facilitating the markets in taking them forward and improving their offer.”

So now what?

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 Please remember that we are publishing  fortnightly during the holiday/silly season, which means that our next blog will appear on Monday 6^th August.

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