Even though they’re probably punch drunk from their last meeting, Worst Street councillors are rolling up their sleeves for a second round of verbal fisticuffs in a second attempt to drag the proposed alliance with East Lindsey District Council off the ropes and back into the ring.

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Without going into all the dismal details, the council meeting of 10^th June ended after 4¾ hours with the plan being withdrawn after opponents supported a move that would have seen it delayed for a minimum of six months for everyone to have a good old natter about it.

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Withdrawing the proposal spared it from being automatically shelved for at six months under the rules.

The difference may seem trivial – as many things about Worst Street are these days – but there was always the chance that if resubmitted after the delay, another six-month embargo could have been imposed.

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Now, Worst Street leaders are seeking a compromise that they presumably believe will see the deal go through.

In a second extraordinary meeting this year – which tends to redefine the meaning of the word extraordinary more than a little – two tweaks have been made.

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The meeting on Thursday 25^th will be told: “Consultation with councillors from outside the administration indicated that the proposal could be made acceptable by incorporating an amendment … which would provide this council (but not ELDC) with the option of ending the alliance after 12 months and by devising a scrutiny process that runs alongside the implementation of the arrangement to inform any such decision.”

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So, some wheeling and dealing by the leadership has seem some opponents change their view.

Who are these people?

Who knows – but a look at how the voting differs from the last meeting will give some clues.

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The whole thing balanced on a knife edge last time – or actually, a Viven Edge as regular readers will recall.

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But given the fickleness shown last time, who can say whether the Tory leadership move will be enough?

Time will tell.

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Of greater concern is the fact that something that a couple of weeks ago was declared crucial to the long-term survival of Boston as a council and critical for the good of the taxpayers, has now become a declaration that “Well, we’ll nose around it for a few months and if we don’t like the smell we’ll throw it out of the window.”

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Presumably, the confidence among our so-called ‘leaders’ is such that they believe that these first few months will bring about a Damascene conversion for the waverers and that we will all live happily ever after.

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If they’re wrong, the cost to the taxpayers will be immense – but that’s never been of great concern in the past so why start bothering now?

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Later this morning, Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman added his threepenn'orth to the debate in an open letter to Worst Street.

Here's what he had to say ...

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