Our Friday miscellany

of the week's

news and events

 Boston Borough Council’s list of spending over £500 in December has just been released  - and once again it includes some interesting items. Earlier in the week, the council announced the mass resignation of the trustees of the Boston Sports Initiative, thanked them for all the time they have spent on the PRSA over the years (not to mention the money) and added: “They leave the PRSA in a good position for the new board to move forward.” Certainly it will be off to a good start with a £66,000 contribution to the BSI labelled “agreed qtr 3 support bsi.” A third quarter payment implies others. Surely the council isn’t paying a quarter of a million pounds  a year to the PRSA? After all, Councillor Leader Peter Bedford promised in his “vision” - issued soon after last May’s elections  - that arrangements for the PRSA would be settled "once and for all." It now appears that they are being settled four times a year - and then not for all!!
Other interesting spends for the month included more than £40,000 for “agency staff, ” £2,000 for training courses … and to underline the need to replace the council’s aging vehicle fleet,  a bill for 10,288.64 for various parts for just one vehicle - plus £100 for a breakdown company to presumably tow the offending vehicle in. And a good time was most likely had by all 95 attendees  (doubtless wives were included given the numbers) for a finger buffet  which cost £617 out of the Mayoral allowance fund. Yo, ho, ho!

Eye five! February sees the fifth anniversary of the creation of Boston Eye – first as  a website, and  then as a blog. Thanks to all our readers – many of whom have stuck with us through thick and thin throughout this time. Sorry we can’t run to a finger buffet for you! But we will still try to give the council leaders one!

Last week we mentioned the casual indifference displayed by Lincolnshire County Council towards a local businessman who had shut up shop – blaming the Market Place refurbishment. Then the quote from the project’s senior development officer, Amanda Bond, was: “This is a challenging economic climate for any business, and it is unlikely that the ongoing Market Place improvements are solely responsible for the drop in trade.” Ms Bond is back again this week - this time answering two more complaints in her own sympathetic way. In response to observations that the newly laid York stone slabs are slippery in wet or frosty conditions, she retorted: “The paving meets all the necessary standards and has been widely used across the country. All pavements can be somewhat slippery when icy, and pedestrians everywhere need to take care on frosty mornings.” On a second complaint about large pools of standing water accumulating on newly re-laid parts of the Market Place, Ms Bond said: “We suspect the issue will be resolved once the drainage works are completed on site.” If not, then Boston will gain yet another water feature to join those that regularly appear in Pescod Square after heavy rain and at the entrance to the Botolph Street car park on Pen Street outside Tiffins.

Southgate level crossing

Another thing that we mentioned last week was the work by South Holland District Council to secure cheaper energy for the district’s residents. Reports now say that a consortium has offered a deal equal to a 33% cut in electricity and gas bills. But it’s not just South Holland that’s going that extra mile for its taxpayers.  A proposal is on the cards to close Southgate level crossing  in Sleaford – said to be among the most dangerous in the country - once an approved new link road bridge running between Mareham Lane and Boston Road is open. So where’s the money coming from for that, we hear you cry. The answer is that the road is to be funded entirely by Tesco, as one of the local enhancements secured for the town by North Kesteven District Council  as a deal for planning permission – and it could be in place within two years. Is there a lesson for Boston to be learned here? We doubt it!
 On Monday Visit Lincolnshire – which has been "promoting" the county to potential visitors - announced plans to appoint a liquidator after Lincolnshire County Council decided to pull more than £200,000 of its funding, and will not now operate beyond March 31.  It’s not clear yet what will be done to promote the county when this quango vanishes.  County Councillor Eddy Poll, executive member for economic development, said he believed the money could  better be used elsewhere  - by taking a new approach to tourism. He says that County Hall has been meeting local business representatives to discuss ways to increase private sector involvement in promoting Lincolnshire. - which sounds as though someone else pays for it!  However, other districts are making sure that they don’t get left out - East Lindsey, for example, has pledged to continue to promote the district as a tourist attraction. It would be nice to know what Boston Borough Council has in mind – if it’s even given the matter any thought - and let’s hope that someone decides to tell us soon.
A number of local websites have recently been critical of Boston Police and their response – or lack of it – to local crime. Since Tuesday it has been possible to view -  online  - the number and type of crimes which take place at hotspots like nightclubs, subways and parks. Here’s the overview of Boston …

Clicking on the coloured buttons allocated to specific types of offence shows them in more detail – and they contain few surprises. There is a lot of anti-social behaviour around the town’s nightclubs, and shoplifting seems particularly prevalent near ASDA. By May, the maps will show what happens after a crime has occurred - plus whatthe police did and what the result was.  Visit the site at www.police.uk  
The chief executive of Johnston Press, which owns the Boston Standard, has revealed that every newspaper in the group has a healthy profit margin of more than 20%.  We’re not sure about the use of the word healthy. To us it means that the cover price is probably too high - as well as  the advertising rates – a classic example of putting profit ahead of the customer. But rather ominously, as well as his profits boast, Ashley Highfield said he saw the company’s future “beyond print,” presumably meaning a complete move to the internet at some point – especially given that Highfield joined the company in November from Microsoft, and before that was director of new media and technology at the BBC, where he was responsible for the launch of the BBC’s iPlayer, and he has also been editor-in-chief of BBC Online.
Boston BID manager Niall Armstrong has taken us to task over a recent blog. He e-mailed to say:” In your blog of 17th January 2012 you state that you have heard that Boston BID has failed to file its accounts on time with Companies House. I would like to inform you that this information is factually incorrect as the annual accounts for Boston BID Ltd were sent to Companies House on 23rd December 2011, prior to the filing date of 31st December 2011, and that no late filing penalty has been charged by Companies House.”
Co-incidentally, a reader this week decided to imaine himself as someone knowing little of Boston but wanting to find out more from the Business Improvement District’s website. He writes: “I have learnt the following: What's On - apparently nothing since 2011 - although it is a little unclear whether the E-Commerce Event was held on 21 Feb 2011 or is still to be held 21 Feb 2012. I believe I can enjoy a show at the Blackfriars Theatre though it is similarly unclear whether this applies to the 2011 or 2012 season. Latest News - Apparently there hasn't been any since the Christmas Market announcement of 5 December 2011. Hope it was a good bash - sorry I missed it. Downloads - Thought I might be able to get a bit more current information about Boston through the latest quarterly Newsletter or Board Meeting minutes, but this proved a fruitless exercise as the most recent downloadable Newsletter appears to be the May 2011 edition and a Board meeting apparently has not been held since February 2011. Projects - I can only assume that there is nothing new in store for Boston for 2012. Unless I am mistaken the projects listed appear to be of a historic nature - the 2010 Christmas market looks as if that may also have been a good bash. Sorry I missed that one too. Having walked around Boston town centre I can only assume that the Graffiti Removal Enterprise was in some way thwarted - that's a shame, but a good idea nonetheless. Business Directory - Here is a nice feature I thought - but I am sure you can imagine my disappointment when arriving at the Eclipse Nightclub only to find dusty vacant premises. Hmm - doesn't seem to be much going on in Boston these days. Think I will look elsewhere for somewhere to open up shop. Well, you'd have to forgive anyone entertaining such an opinion based on BID's web site. Seems somebody in BID doesn't quite grasp their role in promoting Boston and the importance of maintaining a web site!”
Finally, whilst we are convinced that Boston’s burglars are not among the crème de la crème of crime, we felt that the headline below made them sound positively prosaic.

Surely, isn’t that what burglars do?

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