104 days to the elections

As the four-year term of the current Boston Borough Council coughs and wheezes its final tottering steps to the political graveyard, the quote of the Olympiad must surely be the one by Council Leader Pete Bedford concerning the Princess Royal Sports Arena.

This whitest elephant of them all has cost the council many millions of pounds that otherwise might have been spent on transforming the face of the town beyond all recognition and lifting if out of the slough into which it has sunk in the past few years.

And we all felt considerable relief when he made his leadership position clear shortly after the Tories took control of the council in May 2011.

Just a few days after their surprise win – they were more surprised than the voters – Councillor Bedford issued his “vision.”

It included a pledge that arrangements for the Princess Royal Sports Arena will be “settled once and for all.”

And later, in an edition of the Boston Daily Drivel, he maintained: “Arrangements are now at an advanced stage to put the Boston Sports Initiative into the position of managing the Princess Royal Sports Arena. This will enable it to become a successful venue for sport and public entertainment …”

The total of the reckless spending on this disastrous project is lost in the anals of time (this is not a misprint) – but the last attempt at a tally was a year before the elections when the “grand” total of the cost to Boston taxpayers was put at £8,275,298.

Since then, of course there has been a lot more – much of which appears to have been spent but not specified.

As we reported at the beginning of the year, the most recent financial report from the PRSA charity Boston Sports Initiative  showed an income of £616,166 – including £141,001 grant funding – against expenditure of £825,386, along with the news that “an exceptional amount of £2,059,820 was generated by the write off by Boston Borough Council of outstanding loan balances which had been previously retained in the financial statements, as Boston Borough Council did not formally implement the resolutions until May 2013.”

***

So, whilst any right thinking individual might come to the conclusion that “settled once and for all” meant exactly that, it would appear that the borough’s white elephant is merely being washed down with a load of old flannel.

Because now, the council has announced a plan for an “umbilical cord to be cut” so as stop funding the PRSA year after year.

This has, of course, already happened, if we are to believe previous announcements.

In March 2011 – just before the election –  a £2 million scheme which would have seen the private firm Leisure Connections take over the running of the Geoff Moulder and the PRSA was scrapped.

The council decided to maintain day-to-day control of the Geoff Moulder but leave the Boston Sports Initiative in charge of the PRSA – with taxpayer funded grants of  £176,000 in subsidies 2011/12 and £88,000 in 2012/13 “before seeing the hand outs end in 2013/14.”

In fact, it was as long ago as 2012 that Councillor Bedford again revealed that the next priority for the council would be the Princess Royal Sports Arena.

“We will put proper leases in place with all the partners so that the place can trade correctly.”

If you look skyward at this point, you may well notice some pie flying around – because not content with wasting millions of our pounds on the PRSA since it opened in 2003, our leaders appear to relish the wasteful process so much that they plan to carry on for a few more years yet.

At the end of the month the council’s Environment and Performance Committee will be asked to agree to plunder its reserves for £560,000 to fund energy efficiency measures at both the PRSA and Geoff Moulder Leisure Complex which it claims will bring in £1.5 million and therefore more than cover the PRSA works and cost of installation – with the proceeds going back into the reserves.

The PRSA works?

Over the period of a ten-year lease, £840,000 will be needed for “repairs and commercial investment.”

Yet in the last set of asset valuation figures we could lay our hands on, Boston Borough Council reported that the value of the PRSA was between £11,242,000 and  £11,371,772  depending on whose assessment you took and described the building as a freehold let in good condition.

Apparently disregarding all of the above, Councillor Bedford is jubilant at the thought of leaving a huge legacy of spending to whoever takes over at Worst Street in May. He is quoted as saying: “This points the way to a successful future for the PRSA at minimal cost to the council taxpayer. It will ensure the centre’s future. It has an important role to play in tackling health inequalities for the residents of the borough. It is a well-used facility.”

***

The PRSA seems to have bad luck as far as its structural durability is concerned.

As long ago as 2007 there were reports that part of the roof had been leaking for about a year – apparently with nothing being done until storms made matters worse, when the arena’s insurance company footed the bill.

Another interesting sidebar is in the timeline of the “management” of the facility.

The PRSA website says: “Princess Royal Sports Arena is operated by the Boston Sports Initiative and managed by 1Life.”

Four years ago, when Leisure Connection was in line to take over the running of the centre the plan was hailed by the borough as “all systems go for a bright new future for leisure services in Boston.” 

This was despite the company’s reputation in managing other civic facilities where it was severely criticised. The nearest locally, was in South Kesteven, where users of the Meres Leisure Centre reported “filthy, smelly and vile” conditions.

However, with one bound, Jack was free, and since then, Leisure Connection has metamorphosed into Harpers Fitness in 2008, and from last year became known as  - yes, you’ve guessed it  1Life.

What’s the quotation?

A rose by any other name would smell as much.

***

Whilst we are quoting Councillor Bedford, it is worth recalling that in the same “vision” (he appears to have had almost as many as Saint Bernadette) he had shortly after the 2011 election he told the adoring electorate: “We want to be seen as forward thinking, supporting businesses and development and putting a spring back into the step of people in Boston.”

There appears to be no mention as to how this would have been achieved either between now and the elections – or even over the forthcoming decade.

Or perhaps the ambition to put a spring in our step is why we now have two sports centres leeching our tax contributions.

***

Meanwhile, the leadership’s monomania with closing Boston incrementally continues unabated.

The latest admission that the management of the town is beyond their grasp comes with the news that Hatter Lane is next on the list of streets for closure because of the usual urination/defecation problems.

This one size fits all approach has already been tried on Archers Lane, off Wormgate, which was poetically rechristened Poo Corner to aid the borough’s prurient attempts at publicity.

Now – like a naughty child with a new toy –  the powers that b’aint are flexing their newly acquired SPO muscles to gate both the West Street and High Street ends of Hatter Lane having failed to discourage unwanted behaviour by  cleaning the lane on a daily basis in the hope that this would set a shining example and discourage midnight dumping by drunks.

The news comes at an interesting time.

Last week we had some critical words about the town’s CCTV system, which were countered in the Boston Daily Prattle on Tuesday with the defensive claim that it is Boston’s “force for good.”

Given all the huffing and puffing about naming and shaming and the wonderful work of the unsleeping eye that watches over us all like a guardian angel clutching a summons, why has a temporary CCTV camera not been set up in Hatter Lane?

Instead, the arbitrary decision has been taken to make it a no-go area – and to add insult to injury the council that can’t cope plans to charge  the residential and business properties in the area for the cost of installing and maintaining the gates  if the plan goes ahead.

***

Obviously a solution has to be found to problems of the kind being faced in Hatter Lane.

But the leadership solution is yet again destructive.

Before it started denying public access to public routes, we saw vast swathes of trees and shrubs hacked out to prevent them being used for nefarious purposes – including in the town’s Central Park.

And, of course, on the assumption that every public bench in the town was being used by drinkers, rather than people wishing to feed the ducks or enjoy a quiet moment of contemplation, a decision was taken to remove dozens of pieces of public amenity furniture.

***

Given this knee jerk reaction, we wonder what the response might be in Boston to a story such as this one – which appeared in the Wigan Evening Post last week.

We envisage a mass uprooting of all pillar boxes and pronouncements by councillors to the effect that this sort of thing has to be stamped out – if you’ll forgive the pun.

***

Mention of the drinking SPO reminds us that Boston Police were quick to claim some sort of success with the news that five people have had alcohol taken off (sic) them as part of Boston’s new ‘street-drinking ban.’

All this means at this stage is that the cops were compelled to come up with some sort of result to show that they were enforcing the ban – although we have no doubt that this will prove to have been a flash in the pan.

And did we detect a hint of disappointment when a force spokesman said that there had been no arrests because everyone asked to give up their hooch had done so?

All this hoo-ha about street drinking reminds us of just how small was the demand for a ban in the first place.

As with the council’s slash and burn policy in our parks and other open spaces, and the removal of amenity seating without any consultation in many instances because people “demanded action,”  a “short” survey ran from 7^th March last year until to 22^nd  April.

Residents were encouraged to fill the survey out online; however paper copies were available from Worst Street or could be posted on request.

From a population of around 65,000 people in the borough … 491 responses were received – that’s around 0.75% – of whom 459 wanted a ban on street drinking.

There was also a straw poll taken during a meeting of the Rotary Club of Boston St Botolph’s. Of the 14 members present, the response to the question “should people be allowed to drink alcohol in a public place? the unsurprising outcome was  “yes” – 1 vote “no” – 13 votes.

We are sure that this was the clincher – although it made no difference to the percentage figure.

The decision based on such a pathetic response led to an expenditure of £10,000 of ratepayers’ taxes  – but that’s a mere can of lager down the drain when compared with the cornucopia of cash being wasted on the PRSA and Moulder Leisure Pool.

***

Then again, it seems double standards are de rigueur in Boston.

A mysterious “street poet’s” chalked contributions to the pavement in Strait Bargate have greatly exercised the minds of some of our councillors and our Principal Community Safety Officer.

He told councillors: “We are fully aware of the ‘Street Poet’ as he calls himself, we have CCTV images of him in the act and the cleansing team on a daily basis go and clean off his chalk writing.

“We have also asked  (two PCs)  to go a warning (sic) that gentleman that if he continues to keep writing on the pavements, he may receive either a fixed penalty ticket and/or clean up charge from the cleansing team, we are still researching what offence he is committing as the argument will be he is not criminally defacing or damaging the footpath as he is writing in chalk only, but are aware that police in another part of the country have given fixed penalty tickets to individuals drawing on paths with chalk, so we have enquired (or the police are) under what offence.”

Sadly for the Worst Street Fun Police, the culprit moved on before falling victim to the shock and awe tactics of the powers that be.  

We saw his work on the street – and although it was too faded to read properly, it seemed to be fairly harmless.

The council’s attitude seems strangely contradictory – especially in light of a £1,000 grant made by the B-Tacky committee in 2012 to the South Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service to celebrate National Volunteering Week …  by encouraging people to chalk all over the pavement.

***

Earlier we credited the council “leader” with the quote of the Olympiad – and the quote of the week must surely come from Councillor Yvonne Gunter during a discussion on how the council could improve its grass cutting services.

One idea was to save a staggering £17,000 by removing provision for floral schemes for Boston in Bloom.

This is a ridiculous sum of money for the results that we see around the place for the few weeks when Boston is tarted up so that the council can try to win another badge.

But Councillor Gunter rejected the idea out of hand.

 “We’re working very, very hard to get the town looking beautiful,” she is quoted as saying. “If we lost it, the town would look like any other town – very, very boring, with lots of litter.”

Is it our imagination, or does Councillor Gunter need to get out more?

***

Having said that, Alison Fairman, chairman of the Boston in Bloom committee has gone even further with this Tweet …

Beatify? “To announce formally in the Roman Catholic Church that someone who is dead has lived a holy life, usually as the first stage in making that person a saint.” Arise Saint Boston in Bloom!

***

The debate over the “localness” of parliamentary candidates for Boston and Skegness may not be as important as people would have us think.

An exclusive poll for Red Box – a daily political round up produced by The Times – asked people: "How do you think you will actually cast your vote?"

Seventy-one per cent said it would be "for the party or candidate that I most want to win" whilst 17% said "for a party or candidate that is not my first choice, but who can stop a party I don't like from winning"

Participants were also asked: "Which of the following is most important to you when deciding who to vote for in a general election?"

Top of the list was "values and priorities" – 44 per cent.

"Specific policies" – 21 per cent.

"Best PM" – 9 per cent.

"Local candidates" – 7 per cent.

"Local issues" – 6 per cent.

"Don't know" – 13 per cent.

***

Having said that, we have just acquired another local candidate in the race to become the next MP for Boston and Skegness.

The Green Party's Victoria Percival lives in Boston and runs her own small business, and is quoted as saying that she is confident she can give the electorate a fresh choice from the rest of the field and can win in what is set to be an unpredictable vote.

“I am there to give people a choice. If they don’t want to vote for the usual parties - or UKIP - I am there to give people something different.

“I do believe that social media and the media are giving us a voice. People realise we are not just ‘yoghurt weavers’ – we have got policies and they are pretty good policies.”

Yoghurt weavers, eh?

***

Meanwhile, our departing MP Mark Simmonds has made an interesting foray into a former stamping ground.

After a three year stint as a health minister, which ended in 2010, he subsequently took on a job as “strategic adviser” to Circle Health, the first private firm to take control of an NHS hospital,  for  £50,000 a year to work just 10 hours a month.

That ceased when he became an Under Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in September 2012, and recently, Circle Health announced that it wanted to pull out of its deal to run Hinchingbrooke Hospital because its franchise is "no longer viable under current terms."

Mr Simmonds, however, seems still to favour healthcare as a means of keeping his name in political lights.

Last week he published a lengthy piece in Conservative Home  praising improved survival rates for cancer.

Given his distance from health matters these days, and his imminent departure from the House of Commons we wonder if this is an attempt to raise a  signal flag saying “open for business.”

***

Finally, job descriptions these days are often designed to dignify the post holder with a sense of importance that lifts them from the run of the mill dogsbody.

Hence such titles as Media Distribution Officer (paperboy); Education Centre Nourishment Consultant (school dinner lady); Petroleum Transfer Engineer (petrol pump attendant); Customer Experience Enhancement Consultant (shop assistant); Gastronomical Hygiene Technician (dishwasher) and Mortar Logistics Engineer (bricklayer.)

Not to be left out, Boston has recently acquired an equally prestigious title.

As we shopped in a local supermarket, a call went out over the tannoy: “All Queuebusters to the checkouts …”

Who else are ya gonna call …?

***

We are sorry that Boston Eye is shorter than usual this week. This is due to extended guest appearances at the Pilgrim Hospital, which have cut into our writing time. Depending on the outcome, we hope to be back next week – but if not, then certainly the week following.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

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

Until now, street theatre in Boston has been confined to the antics of the Transported arts group – with frustrated actors dressing in camel costumes as a means of taking people for a ride.

But this week came a new version with a cast of councillors replacing the comedians – nothing new there, then.

The occasion was the re-introduction of prohibition in Boston – with leader Pete Bedford putting on a pour show for the benefit of the local “newspapers,” assisted by Councillor Stephen Woodliffe apparently decanting “the first cans of alcoholic drink down the drain,” with a startled-looking Matt Warman, Boston’s prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate, also in attendance.

The event marked the introduction of the new Public Space Protection Order (pronounced Spo) with Boston Borough Council becoming the first in the country to use laws which no longer require a combination of drinking and anti-social behaviour to invoke the might of the law.

It’s been an expensive transition to replace the Designated Public Places Order that had been in force since 2007 – and has cost around £10,000 of taxpayers’ cash to implement … which includes the erection of  211 signs throughout the Spozone.

According to Boston Borough Council “many are in English, Polish, Russian, Latvian and Portuguese” – which leaves us musing on what other languages have been used.

Whilst no-one likes the sight of people slumped on public benches drinking themselves silly at all hours of the day, such behaviour can only be stopped if there is sufficient enforcement.

Lack of muscle was what prevented the previous order from working – yet there is the notion that the latest attempt will be more successful.

Lincolnshire Police – despite their straitened finances – maintain that they will be able to enforce the law.

In fact the report goes further and says that “Lincolnshire Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner have been very clear that they will adopt a zero tolerance approach to anyone caught consuming alcohol in the controlled drinking zone.”

This is just as well, as the police are the only people empowered to do so – and not, as local reports claim, council officers as well.

Whilst the proof of the pudding is in the eating, we suspect that the bulk of Spo-land will be ignored by the police, and attention focussed on the town centre area around the Ingram Memorial.

Whilst this might get some results, much depends on the attitude of people who are told to hand over their drink.

The original report to Boston Borough Council’s cabinet of curiosities makes it clear that “it is not an offence to drink alcohol in a controlled drinking zone. However, it is an offence to fail to comply with a request to cease drinking or surrender alcohol in a controlled drinking zone.”

The report implies that everything will run smoothly and that drinkers will meekly surrender their hooch on request and submit to a fixed penalty ticket if it is thought necessary.

Should the situation escalate with a double refusal, what then?

Whilst PCSOs can issue tickets, they cannot make arrests as far as we are aware.

So although this new legislation is being promoted as a nostrum for the town’s ills, it will require more than a few signs around the place and a lot of wishful thinking if it is to work.

***

As we all know by now, if there is an easy way to do things and a hard way, Boston Borough Council will usually opt for the latter.

In the case of the Spo,  a subtext on the prohibition signs announces: “Pubs, restaurants and off licences do not form part of the Public Space Protection Order. Areas covered by a temporary event notice for alcohol sales  or a local authority premises licence are only exempted from the Public Space Protection Order whilst alcohol is being served and for thirty minutes after.”

What this means is that in some areas of the Spozone it will be possible to sit outside a pub or restaurant – such alfresco continental delights are regarded with enthusiasm – whilst supping a glass of wine or beer and watch someone else doing likewise being roughed up  by the law.

***

There are, as they say, lies, damn lies and statistics – and seldom is the statement more evidenced than in the annual report out this week on Big Brother Council’s CCTV performance

Whilst in most parts of the country, you are said to never be more than 50 metres from a rat – there is a good chance that if you go out for an innocent morning’s shopping in Boston, a CCTV camera will be a lot nearer.

But, as our leaders never tire of telling us – if we are guilty of nothing, then we have nothing to fear … even though we may feel resentful, distrusted, dishonest,  and devalued by the awareness that we are being watched at all times by some faceless monitoring person.

The introduction to the report says: “The data within this document should not be seen as a full picture of criminal activity within the Boston area” which is fair enough – although it gives the impression that beyond the all-seeing eyes of the 68 cameras covering the town centre, Kirton, the Fenside Estate, Boston College, Pilgrim Hospital, Redstone Industrial Estate and Pescod Square there exists a world akin to Chicago or Detroit.

The headline news for the CCTV service is that it recorded 13,426 daily log entries, completed 1,740 incident records, contributed to 439 arrests and produced 231 pieces of evidence for use by the police or in court.

But if all this was not enough, the devil, as they say, finds work for idle hands.

The report notes a significant rise in the number of logged incidents from August 2014 onwards – due to “specific efforts to combat littering/urinating by using CCTV evidence in co-operation with the council’s environmental enforcement team.”

As a consequence, the report notes that 173 such incidents were logged from July to the end of November . 

Before Boston Borough Council decided to mount its ludicrous “name and shame” campaign – which neither names nor apparently shames anyone – it seems as though spitting in the street received nothing more than a cursory glance from Big Brother control –  if that.

But as though Boston doesn’t already have enough far more significant issues to confront, the council then decided to campaign against spitting in the street – with the result that the number of incidents apparently skyrockets and provides yet more black paint with which to daub the town and its reputation.

Even worse – if that were possible – it would seem that our CCTV masters decided to turn it into a bit of a lark.

The report shamelessly tells us: “During this period we have been motivating CCTV staff by including an element of friendly competition into their daily activities. We are encouraging operators to log littering incidents by displaying a monthly ‘score’ chart of the number of littering incidents captured by each individual operator – resulting in a monthly littering ‘champion’.”

It reminds of the “awareness” campaigns over the years – such as the one to highlight so-called “hate crimes.”

These are defined by Lincolnshire Police as “any crime or incident which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s actual or perceived social group or groups.”

But having said that, the force adds somewhat confusingly: “It is important to note that some hate incidents may not constitute a criminal offence and therefore will not be recorded as a hate crime, whereas all hate crimes are hate incidents.”

Whatever the definition, the upshot of  such campaigns is a surge in reporting – usually accompanied by an absence of detection – so quite how this helps in any way is difficult to say.

The moral of the CCTV fable is that if you go looking for trouble – such as by running a bounty hunting contest – you will invariably find it.

***

If we were the betting kind, we would say that the response from United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust Chief Executive Jane Lewington to a letter from Boston Borough Council opposing the relocation of Accident and Emergency, Maternity and other acute services from Pilgrim Hospital pretty well suggests that a few unpopular decisions have already been made.

The  council's decision to write was taken on 8^th December and a letter posted on the 12^th.

A tribute to the trust’s efficiency is that the letter somehow managed to vanish down a wormhole in time and not reach Ms Lewington until Christmas Eve – after which the elusive little missive failed to receive attention until 2^nd January when the reply below arrived.

They keywords and phrases in the letter such as the facing of “unprecedented challenges in ensuring the sustainability of hospital services” coupled with “some difficult decisions will have to be taken,”  tell us to expect the worst.

That a senior officer of one important organisation should treat another – which represents 60,000 people – with such cavalier disregard says much about the mind-set of the organisation.

Rather than waiting for the promised “formal public consultation”  Boston Borough Council needs to fire off a second letter pdq  to stress that the response is arrogant, unhelpful, rude and dismissive, and to seek a more measured, courteous and constructive response.

***

 Next Tuesday will see yet another attempt to pull Boston up by its bootstraps with the first meeting of a new “Town Team” to help boost trade.

The event is being organised by the Boston Area Chamber of Commerce – a satellite of the Lincoln-based Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce – and according to Jenny Elwick, the organisation’s Boston and Sleaford network development officer, will only be as successful as the local business people supporting it.  

Presentations at the meeting, which starts in the Assembly Rooms at 5-30pm, will include a review of recent activities, case study examples of other UK Town Teams, and a session with Gainsborough Town Manager Samantha Mellows.

The Town Team is the latest replacement for the inappropriately named Boston Business Improvement District – which after five years of legally robbing local businesses was voted into oblivion by them.

Those of you with longer memories may also recall Boston Area Regeneration Company, and Boston Chamber Of Commerce and Industry – now all consigned to footnotes in the books entitled “Putting Boston on Map.”

***

So much of the success of organisations such as town teams is the way that the towns they represent are promoted – and once again, Boston is lacking in this department.

A recent comparison of sites promoting Lincoln, Grantham and Boston shows just how far we have to go to make an impression.

The Visit Lincoln contribution is a website packed with information.

Whilst the Grantham offering is a Twitter page, it is at least up to date and being added to on a regular basis.

Boston’s Twitter page by comparison struggles to find two events in December – one of the busiest times of the year.

***

With regard to promotions, regular readers will know that we are always keen to help whenever possible.

The disheartening item in one of the first Boston Daily Drivels of the New Year again demonstrated the council’s reluctance to let go of the bad news that overwhelms our borough – by stretching the mention of the December 2013 floods  into a third year.

So – how else might we capitalise on the town’s less appealing features?

What could be a golden opportunity appeared in the national news last week, when we read that the World Pooh Sticks Championships are in desperate need of a new home

The annual event attracts up to 2,000 visitors – from as far afield as Japan, Kenya and Australia – but has outgrown its current site at Days Lock in Little Wittenham, Oxfordshire.

The requirements for a replacement venue are for a bridge to hold six competitors side-by-side and parking for 300 cars,  with space for a registration tent, a tea and cake stall and, ideally, village fete games.

A number of bridges in and around Boston very closely resemble the current bridge that hosts the event.

And as Boston Borough Council never tires of telling us, poo sticks – which suggests that an offer to take on the championships could be a marriage made in heaven.

As well as that, we notice the enthusiasm for   teaming up with other places as a means of good publicity.

Most recently is seems that joining Die Hanse – the former Hanseatic League – of which Boston was part in medieval times is going to boost our fortunes, linking our names with the likes of King’s Lynn and Hull and many European ports.

So – how about this for an idea from nearer home? 

The small medieval hamlet of Spital in the Street in West Lindsey seems tailor made for the job.

All other suggestions are welcome.

***

On a more constructive note, the Department for Communities and Local Government is reminding us that it's time to register for this year’s Love Your Local Market event – a “celebration” of our market culture that happens over a fortnight in May.  Over 900 markets took part last year, putting on nearly 7,000 events, although we cannot recall Boston playing a role.

For more information, including how to register, and a downloadable information pack, click here 

***

As the run-up to the general and local elections meanders quietly along in this part of the world, an unusual gauntlet has been thrown down by Paul Wooding – who was shortlisted as a UKIP candidate for the constituency but pulled out at the last minute after believing that the selection process was not quite as democratic as it should have been.

He begins his “open letter to the people of Boston and Skegness” with a self-quotation:

“The plight of the people of East Lincolnshire and particularly Bostonians, has for so long been remembered, as to be entirely forgotten.”

After a brief biography – 56 years old, happily married for 24 years with a 10 year old son, a family living in Skegness and an intention of moving to the area – Mr Wooding takes the unusual step of setting out his political stall … and then asking people if to vote if they want him to stand as an independent candidate.

“I have recently resigned from UKIP as I felt they did not share my passion for honesty, integrity and anti-corruption," he writes.

“I have travelled the world, served in HM forces and been on active duty. I also have excellent negotiating skills due to many years at management level in an extensive sales environment and have owned my own companies. Currently I am a hard working Royal Mail artic driver.

“Many of you will have recognised my name in the Boston Standard from August 2014, when I applied to be your UKIP candidate, just before Neil Hamilton, and I was considered to be one of the favourites.

“Unfortunately, UKIP had a pre-planned agenda to give you a 22 year old, ex-Conservative, career politician with no real life or work experience instead.

“I firmly believe that the people of East Lincolnshire and in particular, Bostonians deserve better.

“Since March 2014, I have been working on numerous plans that I would have put into effect in the event of being elected to represent you, and I am in contact with cabinet ministers with regard to one of the plans, from a serious bid to obtain the funds needed for a bypass, a scheme for massive reductions in the amount of RTA's on the roads, a Skegness regeneration scheme, serious migrant integration plans, drafted private members bills to a) abolish offshore wind farm subsidies, b) legislate for farmers and food producers to pay a living wage, c) make a statutory requirement for migrant workers to be able to financially support themselves for a period of six months, d) legislate to allow the deportation of migrants in the event of a criminal record either before or after migration and e) change the ASBO to a more workable, robust system that has zero tolerance including motoring offences.

“I will give support to any councils that challenge unabated greenfield development, challenge the Danish electricity cable at Bicker Fen, give wholehearted support to a public National Health Service and work tirelessly to keep all services at the Pilgrim Hospital intact.

“The original purpose of the House of Commons was for a normal, working local representative from an area to speak that region’s grievances and needs.....a true voice of the people.

“Unfortunately, over time, the system has become far too politicised. To select a candidate on party policies alone only diminishes your voice, and the wants and needs of the community then vanish into the ether replaced by the self-serving interests of party politics.

If you believe your local MP should have morals, honesty, integrity and a hard working ethic.....

If you believe your local MP should represent your wants above self-interest and party agenda.....

If you believe your local MP should live in the area, once in the position.....

If you believe your local MP would understand your issues more if he/she has lived the same life as the majority of people....then you have a simple choice to make as all the declared parties have a party agenda, a whip and a self-serving interest to win as many seats as possible in Parliament, leaving the constituents’ issues further down the pecking order.

“Wouldn't you agree that working hard in the background for a better deal for East Lincolnshire is preferable to sound-bites and photo-bombing opportunities?

“That is precisely why I have not been active in the media since my resignation from UKIP. I am actively still working for a better deal for you.

“Career politician or mature, passionate hard worker with only the interests of the electorate at heart and with the drive and tenacious ability to get it ... would you choose the latter?

I stand for Integrity, Honesty and a passionate desire to help the long forgotten people of Boston and Skegness ... if you wish me to stand as your Independent representative at this year’s general election  please text “yes” or no” to 07770 192960, tweet @djsharkyp, email djsharkyp@gmail.com or comment in the New Boston Eye.

“Thank you”

It’s a bold and interesting move – and one which depending on the outcome, could well save a lost deposit.
We hope that Mr Wooding will keep us in touch with the outcome.

***

The issue of “localness” of candidates is an interesting one – and it seems important to political parties to stress the point if their man or woman can claim such status.

However, we believe that the local Conservative Association is stretching things a little with its thumbnail sketch of candidate Matt Warman.

The party website tells us: “Matt Warman is our prospective parliamentary candidate for the 2015 election. A local candidate committed to improving our NHS and our transport links as well as dealing with immigration and the EU.”

As we understand it, Mr Warman’s claim to localness is through the fact that his parents in law live and work in Boston, and it seems rather disingenuous of the party to take it that one step beyond.

Similarly, it the party wants to help his campaign, it might be an idea to add an internet link after the promise that “you can find more information about Matt on...”

***

Meanwhile, the pollsters and political anoraks are coming up with the usual conflicting results for how voting in Boston and Skegness might go.

Iain Dale, author of the political blog Iain Dale’s Diary, founder of Total Politics magazine, and presenter of  the LBC Drivetime has produced specific predictions for Lincolnshire  - and lists Boston as a gain for UKIP.

He says:  “On the face of it, it’s a safe Tory seat, but a Survation poll in the constituency in September showed UKIP way ahead. Admittedly the sample size was only 596, but it will have shocked the local Conservative Party. The UKIP candidate is 22 year old Robin Hunter-Clarke. Strange to pick such an untested candidate, but at least he’s local. Mark Simmonds is standing down, complaining he can’t live on £120,000. If UKIP are to make a breakthrough, it might well be here.”

***

However, the first Ashcroft National Poll of 2015 has produced an unexpected result showing the Conservatives leading Labour by six points, by 34% to 28%, with the Liberal Democrats unchanged on 8%, and UKIP down three points at 16%,  and the Greens up three points at 8%.

Having said that, Lord Ashcroft cautions that the poll is subject to a margin of error of 3% – which could mean the Conservatives and Labour would be tied on 31%.
As we said earlier ... there are lies, damn lies ... etc etc.

***

Finally, whilst we acknowledge the hard times faced by Lincolnshire Police – it would seem that there is still money sloshing around for non-operational purposes.

The county Police and Crime Commissioner has just announced plans to make resources available through a Community and Volunteer Fund to assist small local, community based groups in reducing crime and anti-social behaviour and supporting the victims of crime.

Well it’s cheaper than policing, and means someone else has to venture into the cruel outside world, doesn’t it?

Organisations can ask for a minimum of £250 up to a maximum of £1,000 for their project – and without naming names we can think of at least one group from Boston which will be there with the begging bowl outstretched.

Whilst money handed out for this project might at least yield the occasional result, we have to raise an Eye-brow at another initiative being staged in Skegness, where people are being given the opportunity to participate in “a community counter terrorism exercise” next month.

“Public attendees will be thrust into the fictitious town of Sandford and be faced with a situation where a terrorist incident is about to or has taken place,” says the police blurb.

“Decisions made by the attendees will shape the way the incident is investigated and how it impacts on the community and families of those arrested. They will also need to give consideration to media attention.”

The event organiser – the aptly named PCSO Dave Bunker says: “The object of the exercise is to give members of the community the opportunity to empathise with police decision-making processes during real incidents.  Numbers will be strictly limited to a maximum of 30.”

It’s hard to imagine anything much more pointless and possibly expensive than a stunt like this.

Let’s hope that there’s still enough cash left in the force’s kitty to clamp down on Boston’s “demon drinkers”

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

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

Responsibility for making New Year resolutions seldom rests with the person who has to carry them out.

When we are young, the list is usually drawn up by our parents – and when we are grown up, by partners or friends.

And occasionally, we encounter people who never grow up.

Peter Pan is the most famous of them all.

He spends an eternal childhood in Never Never Land as the leader of his gang, the Lost Boys – but others who never grow up often wind up as local politicians.

One such as these is also named Peter, who leads a cabinet of lost boys (and a girl!) who remain permanently isolated in Never Never Land – which the dictionary defines as a utopian dreamland, unreal, imaginary, remote, isolated, barren.

New Year resolutions for the inhabitants of the Never Never Land known as Boston Borough Council are made for them – by the Government.

And because they mistakenly believe that they are “real” and “party” politicians, they mindlessly do as they are told – irrespective of the continuing harm that may befall the community which they laughingly claim to “serve.”

***

Consequently, when Whitehall told Boston Borough Council to slash a further £600,000 in the coming financial year, there were no howls of protest such as when Lincolnshire Chief Constable Neil Rhodes bravely stuck his head above the parapet to tell Home Secretary Theresa “Daisy” May that more cuts would see the death of the service in Lincolnshire.

However, the bottom line is that the borough’s spending has been reduced from £9.5m to £8.9m.

Our so-called leader was quick to doff his flat cap and bend a deferential knee in submission.

"It is what we expected to within a few thousand pounds,” he grovelled. “It could have been a lot worse if it hadn't been for the increase in new homes being built within the borough. It's going to be hard, but we will work with what we've been given and produce a balanced budget.

"There will be no increase in council tax. We gain the equivalent of a one per cent council tax increase from the Government by freezing council tax. If we increased council tax we would lose the one per cent, so this is the best way forward for the borough's council tax payers and the council.

"There will be no cuts in frontline services.

“We continue to do our bit to address the acute financial situation the country finds itself in."

What a hero – but given our druthers we would have liked, if nothing else, to have heard a growl of protest rather than just a whine of complaisance.

***

Perhaps the most telling line in the leader’s letter of surrender was the claim that there will be no cuts to frontline services.

Like Schrödinger's Cat, Boston Borough Council is both dead and alive (what’s known as quantum indeterminacy or the observer's paradox, which we all encounter at some time or another) until someone lifts the lid on the Worst Street toy box to see what’s what.

However, it can now be said with some certainly that there is no longer a readily identifiable “front line” among the council’s services.

Long ago in civic history, borough councils were relatively powerful organisations – even humble little Boston had its share of Aldermen alongside the run of the mill councillors once upon a time.

But over the years the tasks of local authorities were reduced – in some cases voluntarily, such as when our cash-strapped council (is there an echo in here?) decided to sell its housing stock to Boston Mayflower.

A look at the government’s website says of district councils: “They’re usually responsible for services like: rubbish collection, recycling, council tax collections, housing, and planning applications.”

Remove housing, and the list is depressingly small for the amount we pay in Boston.

As far as planning applications are concerned, these are mainly handled by a small and capable team of officers – except for major applications such as the one for the Quadrant scheme in Wyberton, which are referred to the planning committee.

And it is at times like this when we see our elected members in their true colours.

The Quadrant application – issued as a video nasty by Worst Street – showed how mind-bogglingly dense most of the members of the committee were.

We say most, because one or two remained silent, although it might well be possible to guess that had they uttered a word or two they would have joined their peers in piteousness. 

*** 

So what does that leave?

Of the  few remaining duties carried out by Boston Borough Council that impinge in any way on the life of the people it “serves” the only one with any credibility is the emptying of our wheelie bins.

As we have said many times before, the bulk of the money taken from us by the powers that be in Worst Street mostly goes on staff costs – and the lion’s share of those duties are collecting the taxes for Lincolnshire County Council and Lincolnshire Police.

One of the few sources of income these days is the formerly mentioned New Homes Bonus – a “housing incentive scheme” for local authorities – which is a government bribe similar to the reward for freezing council tax.

It could also go a long way towards explaining the enthusiasm for recent new house-building projects that are set to swamp the borough with the next few years.  

*** 

We also anticipate that some more unpleasant surprises are on the way on the financial front.

The Environment and Performance Committee schedule up to the end of the financial year included a confidential item on the future arrangements for the management and operation of the Princess Royal Sports Arena – a white elephant which we thought we were supposed to have washed our hands of by now having poured millions and millions of pounds down its capacious drains.

The most recent financial report from the PRSA charity Boston Sports Initiative  showed an income of £616,166 – including £141,001 grant funding – against expenditure of £825,386.

Whether the hope is that the borough council will give the PRSA even more money, we don’t know.

The same annual report reminds us that “an exceptional amount of £2,059,820 was generated by the write off by Boston Borough Council of outstanding loan balances which had been previously retained in the financial statements, as Boston Borough Council did not formally implement the resolutions until May 2013.”

We recall that soon after the May 2011 elections, the council’s newly appointed leader Pete Bedford promised that arrangements for the PRSA would be settled "once and for all."

Yet here we are in the dog days of his administration and nothing appears to have changed.

The only thing that we did note was that the confidential report on the PRSA, which was scheduled to have been presented to the cabinet early last month, did not appear on the agenda.

Then there is the sorry affair of Boston Crematorium, which again is on the agenda for discussion on the Environment and Performance Committee schedule later this month.

Recent figures show that the crem is losing business … most likely to the more attractive – and cheaper – facilities in Alford and Surfleet.

The issue was well summarised by Independent Councillor Carol Taylor in her refreshingly honest blog who warned that the service is now in “big trouble.”

She went on: “We are in danger of losing it or seeing a huge reduction in service availability.

“Nearly half a million was spent on two new cremators which had to be replaced by law, and this was known about for several years before the work was actually done …

"It is another Assembly Rooms scenario.

“No money spent on it for internal structural changes and decoration but now it is so bad, it will cost a fortune to put it right.”

What a pity that our so-called leaders seem perpetually unable to learn from their mistakes!  

*** 

Our illustration at the top of the page just about sums it all up.

Our self-styled leaders, a prickly slow-moving lot at the best of times, have just a few months to clean up their mess and persuade people that they deserve a second term at the local elections – although we suspect that in their heart of hearts, many would prefer to be voted into political oblivion as a way off the hook.

However, they have made a rod for their own backs over the past 3½ years by their pathetic performance.

The Boston Bypass Independents were elected more on a hope than a promise.

And when they failed to deliver the undeliverable, they paid a heavy price at the ballot box.

Enter the Conservatives – with their first overall majority since 1973. They had no real manifesto and since they took office have stumbled from crisis to crisis – many of which have been made by their slavish adherence to government diktats.

There is no opposition to speak of – what  exists is too fragmentary, comprising as it does three different “Independent” groups,  plus Labour, a sole (and usually absent) English Democrat, and two councillors described as “unaligned” … which includes the only real independent in terms of definition.

This makes any realistic form of opposition impossible, even though the council is now equally divided between Tories and the rest of the horde.

How many of this motley crew will think that they are good enough for another term is anyone’s guess.

And will we see a major push by UKIP for seats on the council?  And if so, will the usual debacle ensue that will see them disappear  within weeks?

*** 

Meanwhile, as the council as a hole (this is not a spelling error!) girds its loins for another round of cuts, at least one committee is apparently looking forward to burgeoning profits in the foreseeable future.

Last month’s report by the multi-talented Aaron, Councillor Spencer (but written by the head of Financial Services) must have delighted taxpayers in Boston’s town wards who are allegedly represented by the Boston Town Area Committee (BTAC) when they read that rather than being charged a special tax to benefit them specifically there are plans instead to stuff it under the Worst Street mattress.

The calculations assume that by the end of this financial year, B-Tacky will have £85,000 in the kitty, and that this will grow over the years until by the 2019/20 financial year, it will stand at a stonking £124,000 – a massive increase in percentage terms.

The implication is that B-Tacky will spend little if any money in the next five years – and to rub salt in the wound, its running costs are set to be in the order of £100,000 next financial year.

The borough’s costing system bills the committee £73,000 for “premises” £21,000 for “supplies and services” – that’s a lot of tea and biscuits – and more than £10,000 for “support services.”

So unless we have misunderstood the report, the committee will cost taxpayers half a million pounds between now and 2020 in administration costs for doing nothing, whilst saving all its income.

Explanations on the back of a fag packet would be most welcome.

***

It also looks as if Boston taxpayers will be handing over even more to our leaders’ chums at County Hall.

A meeting of the LCC executive this week favoured increasing council tax by 1.9% – although unlike Boston ... and indeed some other districts which are increasing the charge –  head office feels that there are benefits to be had from forfeiting the government’s 1% bribe to freeze it.

But where an additional impact on Boston must surely be felt is the in County Council’s decision to pool business rates with six of the Lincolnshire District Councils – South Holland is not among them.

Initial calculations show the County Council could benefit by some £1.116m by entering into such an arrangement – which can only mean that the district councils involved will lose out.

***

Meanwhile, the battleground for the general election seat of Boston and Skegness remains entrenched.

Despite the big Conservative majority at the last election, Sky News considers the constituency as a possible gain for UKIP by including us in its “In the Margins” list of key battlegrounds

The candidates for the two major contending parties have kept fairly quiet over the festive period.

Conservative Matt Warman pictured himself supporting local business with the purchase of a turkey from one of the town’s butchers.

His UKIP opponent – boy wonder Robin Hunter-Clarke – charmed us by retweeting an item from  BBC weather telling us “it’s very clear for Father Christmas ahead of his journey start time.”

Whilst we applaud the arrival of younger candidates for parliament, we have to say that one who still apparently believes in Santa Claus is perhaps a little much.

Having said that, given the state of parliament these days, it may be that such an individual would feel entirely at home.

***

In his New Year message to the hoi-polloi, council “leader” Pete Bedford tells us beneath a grim-faced photo that “The town has rallied, with shop vacancy rates better than most and footfall in the town centre at a four-year high.”

We’ve raised an Eye-brow at such claims before, and think it only right to point out that in one key area of the town’s shopping “offer” there are now four empty shops within feet of each other.

The Age Concern and Community rooms in Bargate we mentioned in our last blog, but they have now been joined by the Ryman’s stationery shop and the one-time fish tank beauty parlour,

A worse location for so many empty premises would be hard to imagine.

***

An interesting contrariness appears to have afflicted Boston Borough Council in recent weeks.

It began in the run up to Christmas, when Worst Street produced what it laughingly referred to as a list of its opening hours.

Sharp eyed observers may wonder how anything purporting to be a list of “opening” times can comtain the word “closed” more than thirty times.

We suspect that the thought behind all this – if indeed there was one – is that it would be bad to give the impression that the council had shut down for Christmas … even though that appeared to be the case.

Our second piece of perversity concerned a local man aged 91 who wanted the council to take away an old armchair, which it agreed to do for £16.

But as is so often the case with the powers that be in Worst Street,  petty rules declared that the discarded chair had to be left on the pavement.

The point was made that aside from the difficulties  for the owner of  the chair manhandling bulky furniture at such an advanced age, the pavement was very narrow and would become blocked.

In the circumstances, the not unreasonable question was asked: “If I dragged it to the front door could not the council employee drag it out on to the pavement himself?

“No, that was impossible under health and safety regulations … however; there were private firms which could do it.

“Why the organisation to which I paid council tax could not do it but could advise me that a private firm could, I have no idea.

“The council representative was consistently unhelpful and made no attempt to try to meet me halfway.

“If this is the public sector at work, no wonder she suggested a private firm could do it.”

Health and safety is a convenient escape hatch which is often used by local councils to avoid tasks that they would rather not do – and as far as we are aware, the laws do not differ where private contractors are concerned.”

What a shame that just for once, the council could not literally have gone that extra yard to help an elderly taxpayer.

It should therefore come as no surprise that this self-same complainant made the national news back in 2007 when Boston Borough Council fined him £75 for putting a small carrier bag of food scraps in a litter bin, rather than letting it rot in his dustbin between collections.

He was reportedly told that litter was “what you carry around with you” and that what he put in the bin did not meet this definition.

Again, there was not a morsel of understanding from the powers that be. He forked out the £75 after being told that if he did not pay within 14 days the penalty would double and he could face a fine of up to £2,500 if the council took the case to court.

And as a petty sidebar to the affair, we note that the bin that was used was subsequently removed – presumably to avoid re-offending!

***

We had hoped against hope that Boston Borough Council might have lightened up in the run-up to Christmas, but it was without much surprise that when the Christmas Eve issue of its daily drivel arrived our dreams were dashed.

With scarcely a word of greeting a headline shrieked: “Grinch’s Christmas tree pee shame” followed by a story beginning “CCTV doesn’t stop, even at Christmas. And it’s just as well – one of the latest images captured by camera for Name and Shame has evidence of a man peeing up the town’s Christmas tree.”

As we’ve frequently observed, the “name and shame” campaign does neither of these things –nor do we ever hear of any fixed penalty fines or court appearances involving any culprits … which suggests that the whole idea is something of a dud.

However, it did cause us to put pen to paper and devise a verse to mark the occasion.

‘Twas Christmas Eve in the Worst House

And the leaders were wracking their brain.

"We have to rain on their festive parade," declared one,

"And flush it down the drain."

"But what can we do?" asked another.

"Our flood threats are older than Noah."

Said a third, "We return to tradition, and feed them the mix as before."

"Spot on” said the first, “and with that we can't miss.

"Let's tell them their Christmas tree's dripping with p*ss."

So they summoned the person who writes all this stuff

And said “lay it on with a trowel.”

There's wee on the tree and spitting galore

And perhaps something vile from a bowel.

We're sorry to say that it's what Christmas means

At the Worst Street fun factory.

There's nary a greeting apart from a banner

And the word for the season was "pee." 

*** 

It seems that Boston missed out yet again with an historic visit to the county by Bittern – the sister locomotive to the record breaking Mallard,  which notched up the world speed record for steam locomotives at 125.88 mph in 1938 on the slight downward grade of Stoke Bank south of Grantham on the East Coast Main Line.

On its final tour before going in for a lengthy overhaul, it  travelled back up the East Coast main line to Werrington, near Peterborough to join a restored line which took it to Spalding, then via a Sleaford avoiding line for a three hour stay in Lincoln  and a return via Newark. 

Crowds thronged the route and the stations that the engine visited, in what must have been a tourism triumph.

So near to Boston, and yet so far – which sadly almost always seems to be the case.

Never mind, we still have joining Die Hanse and playing eighth fiddle to Plymouth in the 2020 celebrations to mark the year in which the Pilgrim Fathers boarded the Mayflower in Plymouth to look forward to.

***

Finally, those with long memories who recall one-time Boston Chief Executive Mark James – the man credited with bringing the PRSA to Boston – will be pleased to know that he starts the New Year with Great Expectations.

A report on Wales Online says that Carmarthen Chief Executive Mr James – who was deemed to have received unlawful payments – may be in line for a severance package which could cost £446,000.

The ruling decided that payments made to him directly instead of to a local authority pension fund were unlawful, whilst another ruling said that the council had acted unlawfully by funding a libel claim Mr James won against a local blogger which together totalled more than £50,000.

After the debacle, Mr James applied for a package to leave Carmarthenshire County Council on April 1^st (ha, ha) – the first day of a new tax year … although the council’s severance scheme ends on March 31^st.

Wales Online understands there are ten possible options the council has been presented with in relation to its employment of Mr James – the cheapest of which will cost £230,000.

Apparently a negotiated settlement agreement on different terms is another possibility – whilst another option is for Mr James to remain in post or resigning without a payoff.

We wouldn’t hold our breath for that one!

The full details can be found here

  

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be tre ted in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

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