Our Friday miscellany of the week's news and eventsOur heart skipped a beat when we read of a time capsule competition in Boston. Good idea, we thought – jump aboard, set the dials for the 5th May last year, and vote in a completely different council than the ramshackle ragbag that claim to be our leaders. Then we realised that the capsule was to celebrate historic events, which rather took the wind from our sails. But it reminded us of our suggestion a while ago for something similar to be buried beneath a plaque in the Market Place as the work concludes. It would be an interesting project, and one that would give Bostonians in future years an insight into what the town is like today. Perhaps that’s why we haven’t heard of any takers for the idea!
Mind you, according to Boston Borough Council’s website – and something that we have mentioned before – we would need to go back even further in time than last year. According to the section headed “Election results” the site informs us “The most recent elections for the Boston Borough and Parish Councils were held in May 2007.” And we suppose it was just bad luck with the timing rather than the usual incompetence, but poor old Boston Borough Council chose the balmiest day of the year to exhort us to check out the “Responders to Warmth” scheme on its website last week. As we double checked these items yeysterday, we were surprised to note that the design of the website is in the throes of change - but as a lot of work still clearly needs doing, we will give it a few days before commenting. But it's nice to note that the colour scheme is now a nice Tory blue.
Is it a plea for sympathy over Boston Borough Council’s financial plight? The picture below appears in the latest issue of the borough’s monthly bulletin, to illustrate a food safety course being staged for ethnic shop owners.
But look at those chairs! We reckon they deserve a safety course of their own.
Efforts to brighten Boston up with a few flowers seem to be moving ahead at last, and we are pleased to see some of the patchy, weed strewn areas previously labelled Boston in Bloom are at last displaying something other than grass. The idea of sponsoring barrier baskets or planters in the town kills two birds with one stone. It saves the council money, and provides local businesses with publicity. But we raised an eyebrow when we read an appeal by the council regarding Central Park. “We have many attractive shrub beds, amenity areas and bedding areas in Central Park that would provide a great opportunity for promoting your business while helping us to create attractive public spaces. Please contact us for prices and more information.” Given that a barrier basket costs £120 for five months, we shudder to think what a shrub bed might work out at. But the bigger question must surely be – what is the council’s parks staff doing, when the ratepayers are being expected to provide the plants. We’ve noticed a considerable decline in flowers in the park over time, but is it becoming the case that unless we pay for them, there won’t be any?
Whilst a £4 million intensive care unit at Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital is good news, it’s ironic that it appears in the same week as reports that say the hospital has increased supervision for junior doctors after some reported a lack of support from senior staff, - particularly at weekends. The East Midlands Healthcare Workforce Deanery said some students had raised concerns about the availability of consultants on the wards. The hospital trust said it has now increased the level of senior staff to cover out-of-hours training, and that changes had also been made to the shift patterns of consultants and that it was working closely with the deanery to provide effective training. It’s one thing to have these state of the art departments – but quite another if the staff aren’t well enough trained to use them efficiently. And how ironic that local MP Mark Simmonds - an apparent apologist for private companies to run NHS services - should be the man to cut the tape and declare the facility open.
A new group has been set up on Facebook for local people to have their say on the issues of the day. It’s called Boston’s Voice, and Boston English Democrat Councillor Elliott Fountain has had a hand in getting it up and running. “Boston Voice was an idea of someone I work with, who wanted to do a page to represent all people and promise that no comment or person will ever be removed for any reason,” Councillor Fountain told Boston Eye. “The idea was born out the fact that Boston Protest March page did not seem to be run democratically, and if certain people did not agree with one person’s views, then comments or opinions would be deleted. I had many people asking to come to certain meetings that the protest march people have been able to attend … (because) … they are an "identifiable group." This is what my colleague wanted to do with regards to Boston Voice. Even though I have been made administrator of that group, I don't run it, and I didn’t create it. I just wanted to help another group to form some type of democratic system where a chairman, vice chair and secretary can be voted to represent the people.”
It’s good to hear that the solar panels at the Geoff Moulder Leisure Pool are soaking up the rays and generating cheap electricity. But we wonder if we needed as many as eight councillors – seven Tories and one Labour, which represents 25% of the entire council - to attend a photo opportunity to “view the improvements.”
It’s not that long since councillors turned out en-masse to pose for the cameras when the pool re-opened. Still, it gets them out into the sunlight – but judging from the look on the faces of some of them, that may not have been a comfortable experience. And on the subject of improvements, we hope that a bucket or three of tarmac will be next on the improvement agenda.
Last week’s news that unemployment in the borough rose by 18% in the last year appeared before the most recent round of job losses in local shops. Figures from the Office of National Statistics showed 1,490 people claiming unemployment benefit in January compared to 1,264 in January 2011- and was the largest increase among Lincolnshire's seven local authorities. Lincolnshire County Council’s head of enterprise, Justin Brown, described the figures as disappointing but added: "Boston has a lot going for it and we have several projects under way to create new jobs. "The Boston flood barrier will improve confidence in the town and encourage more businesses to invest there. Our training courses are helping to ensure that local people have the right skills to find work.” The problem no-one seems to have grasped is that training is all very fine so long as that the jobs are there to apply for. This needs aggressively addressing, and not through talking shops. And let's not forget that the Boston barrier is still some years away. Meanwhile, Boston MP Mark Simmonds added: "Obviously I am concerned about this reported increase in unemployment, and I sympathise with the situation that many people are in due to job losses and the lack of employment opportunities.” We’re beginning to wonder whether he has a pro-forma on his computer which reads: "Obviously I am concerned about this reported …. and I sympathise with the situation that many people are in due to …” and – then gets a flunkey to fill in the blanks
Our local papers are still seeing a decline in readership – although the Boston Standard seems to have staunched the flow more than somewhat. The Audit Bureau of Circulation’s latest figures for UK regional paid-for newspaper sales between July to December 2011, shows the Boston Standard selling 8,773 copies - down 0.2% on the same period last year, whilst the Boston Target sold 15,367 papers - down 24.4% … one of the biggest fallers on the list. Once entirely free, the Target is now no longer given away in many areas. Could this perhaps explain the slump?
We think that the role of the Boston Town Area Committee is becoming increasingly confusing as it continues to hurl money at projects galore. It has happily thrown £5,000 at the Jubilee Picnic and is trying to fudge the fact that this contravenes the rule which says its spending must only be for in town projects, by saying that the event is only for people in the “non-parished areas of the town. How will that be enforced? Local passports, perhaps? Similarly, it has given £5,000 to support the Boston Community Showcase, which again attracts visitors from far and wide. Meanwhile it adopted a nit-picking stance after the Boston Stroke Association applied for a £1,000 grant by demanding a list of addresses of members, then handing over £580 pro rata for the number of club members who live in the town. Now we hear that although BTAC has earmarked £20,000 to regenerate a skate park, it may still not be enough. Plans to proceed have been put on hold whilst the borough’s parks department take a look at them. Our ever-quotable Mayor, Councillor Mary Wright, is reported as saying: “£20,000 to build a skate park is not a lot of money. I would rather build it properly.” Earth to Mary … what planet are you on? You're supposed to be keeping costs down!
We’re sure that the Boston Standard must be doing it on purpose.. . For the third week in a row, the paper’s Pages from the past feature offers a comic gem.
An outbreak of measles leading to “spot checks” by doctors. What’s in store for next week, we wonder?
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Our former blog is archived at: http://bostoneyelincolnshire.blogspot.com
Let us hope that 'Boston Voice' does not throttle itself through the use of lazy, irritating 'text speak' and incomprehensible grammar. I am not even going to touch on the matter of the distant hope that an erudite expression might manifest itself on the page.
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