Bending the knee to public opinion is sometimes a good idea – but it is also something that needs thinking about rather than making a knee-jerk reaction.

*** 

We mentioned last week the meeting of around 70 concerned residents who aired their views and grievances about the state of the town to the Chief Constable and PCC, our MP, the Worst Street leader Aaron Spencer (pictured left) and a Chief Inspector.

Scarcely had the air had time to cool when Councillor Spencer announced plans to open all (three) Boston Borough Council toilets – that’s Lincoln Lane, Park Gate and Cattle Market – on 24 hours a day a three-month trial, an experiment that started last Monday.

***

The toilets in Boston have always been a fraught issue.

There was a time when Worst Street deemed them no longer affordable – with the original five costing £200k a year to run and the three that charged earning only £12,500.

We were also reminded that the council had no statutory responsibility to provide toilet facilities.

***

Instead, it settled on dumping (no pun intended) the toilets on to the BTAC-ky budget – charging the costs to people living in the town centre area who probably use them least –  and (long overdue) spending money on improvements.

Now BTAC-hee-hee taxpayers are taking a hiding yet again – as the decision to open the loos round-the-clock, will be an expensive one.

The full year costs to BTAC-ky are £140,000 – so the extra opening hours will cost a fortune.

Each toilet previously opened for 66 hours a week – but will now be open for an extra 14 hours Monday to Saturday and 18 on Sundays.

That's an extra 102 hours. 

Per toilet. 

Per week.

***

As far as we can work out, before the toilets went 24-hour they cost around £35,000 a quarter to run.
But the additional cost of opening around the clock for three months will work out at nearly £89,000 – an extra £54,000 ... just for the experimental period.
If the trial were deemed a success and retained, the annual cost would be a staggering £356,000 –  an eye-watering increase of £216,000 a year.
Isn’t that too high a price to pay?

***

Councillor Spencer concluded: “We as councillors share the frustration of the residents of this town and we all hope that this will encourage those who currently defecate and urinate in the street to think twice and use the facilities that are making available.”

***

As the bard put it – “a consummation devoutly to be wished.”

But, clearly, memories in Worst Street are relatively short.

It’s only a few years since the council published a report containing some truly vile photos showing the disgusting state that the loos were left in.

Beneath the heading DEFILED – DEPRAVED Would you clean it up?  It cautioned readers: “Images connected with this article come with a warning: They show graphic scenes of the disgusting condition some have left Boston’s public toilets in.

“If you do not have a strong stomach then do not look at them.

“They are used to demonstrate that, despite the best efforts of council staff, some people persist in leaving visitors with the wrong impression; that public toilets in Boston are neglected and not maintained.”

And that was during normal, day-time use only.

***

Does Councillor Spencer really suppose that 24-hour opening will see people queuing up in the wee small hours (again no pun intended) to use the loos in a neat and tidy manner and washing their hands afterwards?

We will see.

***

One final point …

This decision to burden the town centre ward taxpayers with a massive hike in charges was taken by the leader “in consultation” with BTAC-ky chairman Councillor Paul Goodale.

Whilst we are sure than the remaining 13 members of the committee wouldn’t dare to oppose it, we must ask whether the urgency was so great that it couldn’t have waited until a formal meeting – or at least a conference call to ensure that a majority was onside.

Between them the leader and chairman have done a Boris Johnson and torn up the rule book to try to meet public demands, which we think is the thin end of a particularly dangerous wedge.

We’ve just seen where that got us in parliament last week.

***

The Bostonian Independents Group – BiG for short – is now a little smaller after one of its members was expelled in her absence.

Councillor Judith Welbourn reported the news on Facebook – telling her followers: “Just to let all my friends know that from last night I am no longer a member of the Boston Independent Group.

“Thank you, Brian Rush, Anne Dorrian, Colin Woodcock, Peter Watson and Neill John Hastie.

“Local politics is worse than Parliament.

“Hopefully I can still serve the people that elected me but at the minute unsure of my role.

“Do not like being stabbed in the back so beware I will fight back.”

To a follower who suggested that the expulsion might have been a misunderstanding she retorted: “No misunderstanding. They have been gunning for me for a while. Held a meeting last night and voted me off. Definitely not a misunderstanding.”

When the follower said: “I hope whoever this is will be made accountable. It's backstabbers we want gone, not good people ...” Councillor Welbourn replied  “Mainly Brian Rush and Anne Dorrian. I will fight back somehow.”

In a later message, she added: “Unfortunately, there is no bullying policy within Boston Borough Council. I am not the first and probably won’t be the last.”

We asked Councillor Welbourn is she could shed any more light on the matter, but she told us: “At this present moment in time I am at a loss as to the real reasons behind it. so unfortunately, I cannot enlighten you at all.”

***

We also asked Councillor Rush for a comment in his role as ‘spokesman’ for BiG, but by the time this week’s edition was put to bed, we had not received a reply.

***

The decision to expel a colleague seems at odds with the published ethos of the BiG group, which clearly says: “Traditional party politics is fast becoming a thing of the past, the future is free Independent councillors, who truly and wholeheartedly represent the people of their ward.

“There are no party politics, just the conviction to do what is right.”

This seems to us to be a clear case of ‘party politics.’

***

It’s not the first time that claims of bullying have been used in the same context as the Bostonian Independents.

We reported recently on a complaint  about one BiGger's treatment of another non-group councillor – although we didn't name BiG at the time – which the Worst Street hierarchy casually brushed aside (like almost every complaint made) with the explanation: “You have made reference to the council’s Bullying Policy ... This is not a supporting document that is included within the Boston Members’ Code of Conduct …

“ … This council is committed to providing a working environment for its entire staff that is comfortable and free from all forms of harassment. The council adopts a zero-tolerance approach towards harassment … 

“ …This is not applicable to elected members as they are not considered employees of the council.”

Which means in a nutshell that councillors can rough each other up as much as they please whilse the officer cadre sits by and ignores it.

***

It was interesting to see Councillors Brian Rush and Anne ‘Hurricane’ Dorrian nominated as key players in the expulsion of a colleague – as this political dynamic duo is an historic one.

They first made headlines more than a decade ago, when they walked out of the Boston Bypass Independents and formed the Better Boston Group after on-going rows with the leadership of the day.

They subsequently made the news again after reporting a BBI councillor to the police because they suspected him of drink-driving.

Reports at the time said that Councillor Dorrian had driven past the man’s house and noticed his car was not there.

“Concerned he may be drinking, she searched the town for the car, and then the outskirts, finding it eventually in … Freiston,

“She called Councillor Rush and the two decided to follow him to his home after he left the pub around 3.15pm.

His ‘speed was erratic’ and he ‘cornered wildly’ the prosecution said.

“Councillors Dorrian and Rush called the police, who attended the man’s home and arrested him …”

***

Last week we highlighted Boston Borough Council’s apparent inability to find project funding when other districts seem to have little by way of trouble.

A fresh example came up within days, when one of our district councils with Pilgrim Father/Mayflower connections scooped a major jackpot to promote their historic association with their area.

***

Arts Council England granted West Lindsey District Council £100,000 to fund a series of events.

The money will provide ‘a host of arts and creative opportunities’ in Gainsborough as part of the ‘Mayflower 400’ project of events in 2020 – which marks the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from Plymouth, UK to Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Gainsborough’s Illuminate event in November will open the anniversary year of the Mayflower voyage in Gainsborough and will be followed by an 18-month programme of activities, including some further key events throughout 2020.

***

Did Boston apply for similar funding we wonder?

We don’t know – and Woirst Street hasn't ever said.

But if they did, they didn’t succeed.

***

The best that Boston has come up with – apart from a report that seems to have been little more than a talking shop – was to highlight a handout by the Mayflower 400 umbrella group telling us that: “New and exciting information will change how the Pilgrim story is viewed in Boston and how the historic town’s connections had a profound influence on the foundations of America.”

It continues: “Until now though it has been thought of as the port and market town where in 1607 a group of religious separatists with no connections to the town dramatically attempted to escape England, only to be betrayed and arrested. 

“New research reveals a very different story, uncovering a complex and compelling tale of intrigue and influence which enhances Boston’s importance from the wider beginnings of the Pilgrims through to founding and administration of Boston, Massachusetts, in 1630.

“Boston Guildhall, where the Pilgrims were famously tried and held after their betrayal in 1607, is developing a new Pilgrim and American themed exhibition which uncovers these new connections.”

***

So, what’s the big secret that will change our take on history?

It’s still a big secret as far as we can tell.

Another window of opportunity for publicity is lost when the time to exploit it is now.

***

Never mind, we’re sure it won’t be long before the council begins to draw up a list of which lucky people will be enjoying a trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts, at the taxpayers’ expense.

***

We mentioned Gainsborough and money in the same sentence just now – and here we go again.

A local social housing provider wants to build a £20 million affordable housing scheme in Gainsborough to help West Lindsey District Council regenerate the town, and the council has been awarded £2.1m by the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership to enable the development.

***

Boston is always banging on about the need for housing – but that seems to be about as far as it goes.

Oops – that’s not quite right …

***

It’s almost five years to the day that the former Boston Mayflower announced that it had secured a £165 million fund to help pay for 500 new homes in Boston.

The money was raised from international investors, and Mayflower – now called Lincolnshire Housing Partnership after merging with Shoreline Housing Partnership early last year – was the first in the country to secure funding from two sources at the same time, a move which meant it was able to borrow the money at a low interest rate.

Needless to say, the news was enthusiastically welcomed at Worst Street at the time, but since – as has happened so often down the years – the council has taken its eye off the ball and failed to ask such basic questions as: where are all these houses after all this time?

Certainly nothing can be found in an historic check of planning applications, so we guess that the idea simply died the death.

***

Monday last week saw councils from all over the country blowing their own trumpet with a Twitter stunt called ‘Councils Can’ day – “to shine a light on all the amazing things local government does each and every day for our communities” ahead of the Wednesday spending round announcement for the year ahead.

Did we say councils from all over the country?

Well, although a number of districts in Lincolnshire paraded their achievements – guess what?

There was no sign of a contribution from Boston Borough Council.

Nothing to shout about, perhaps?

But by the end of the day almost 3,500 tweets from around 1,800 councils and individuals reached nearly seven million people.

Couldn’t Worst Street have found one good word to say about itself?

***

That said, there’s been a lot of shouting about the PE21 project and how it is going to transform Boston.

Unfortunately, as we reported last week there’s a big question mark over where the money might come from but this hasn’t stopped Worst Street making a video starring council officers, councillors and the great and the good of the town whose use of the words fantastic and excited reached epic proportions.

***

One performer in the video for whom the development would be a dream come true is the tourism portfolio holder Alistair Arundel.

Ten years ago, he was just plain Mr Arundel when he bought the burnt-out Regal Centre on West Street and turned it into a car park – around the time the area was last being slated for redevelopment as Merchants Quay.

“The great news for Boston is there's an end to the eyesore,” he was reported to have said at the time.

“I intend to try and sell it or redevelop it, depending on the economic situation.”

He was quoted as saying that his future plans – at an estimated cost of £2.8 million – would include shops on the ground floor, parking with around 70 spaces on the first floor and modern flats in the floors above, if he could not find a buyer.

“It (the economic situation) does worry me but the thing is it cannot last forever. I like to look on the bright side. Things will go on.”

***

And go on they have. The site beside Bond Street – which according to the Land Registry was later bought for £230,000 by Boston Car Parks LLP in 2012 – is now earmarked for retail use at street level with residential accommodation over … and probably worth a whole lot more than when it was last sold..

***

We dropped into the PE21 show at the Guildhall last Friday – too late for a proper report, but we had an interesting time nonetheless.

More next week.

***

Also too late for a detailed report was Friday's news that Boston – along with Skegness, Mablethorpe and Lincoln – has at last made the grade (third time lucky) for some big-time funding – winning up to £25 million from the governments' £3.6 billion Towns Fund to “support towns to build prosperous futures.”

More on that next week as well.

***

In November last year, we drew attention to a street sign that made mockery of a major event because no-one bothered to check it properly.

If ‘Restictions’ on the ‘1th November’ weren’t bad enough then how about this new example … sent in by a reader.

We hope whomever wrote last year’s sign wasn’t responsible for writin this year’s howler.

If so – perhaps he should have gone to Specsavers!

  

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

E– mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

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

We are on Twitter – visit @eye_boston