Vicious circle demands building without services - but how do we break it?

It seems that Boston has acquired yet another of those unique distinctions beloved by statisticians everywhere.
On the day that the government announced a relaxation in the planning laws to help speed the building of new homes, viewers of BBC Look North were told that the town is expected to see the biggest growth in population anywhere in the country outside of London in the coming eight years.
The report said that in 2002 there were 55,000 people living in Boston.
Today it is estimated at 59,000 - but new figures suggest that by 2020 it could rise by more than 19% to 70,000.
The big problem, of course, is where to put these people.
Ironically, in the week that Boston Eye got a rap on the knuckles for suggesting that – given the unpredictable social and economic climate – trying to plan almost 20 years ahead was a waste of time, Look North’s Lincolnshire-based reporter Simon Spark said that he was struck by how worried the council is now about population – never mind in eight to ten year’s time.
There was a sense of frustration at not being able to develop plans quickly enough, he said, and the council’s biggest fear was that if the migrant population continued to grow as it has,  they would need urgent government help.
Developer Neil Kempster told the programme that he had built more than 500 homes in the past ten years or so, adding: “We know there is a huge need in local towns like Boston for housing.”
Certainly more than fifty a year, if the population is predicted to increase at an average rate of 1,400 a year.
Local businessman, and Boston BID director Darron Abbott, told the programme that Boston already struggled with hospitals.
Schools were overcrowded; doctors’ surgeries were busy, and we struggled with leisure.
He asked: “Are we going to put everything in place - or are we just going to build apartments?”
Boston Borough Council leader Peter Bedford, said: “Of course it’s going to stretch everything, the hospitals, the schools, everything. It’s not just for Boston borough council to do it – it’s the county council, central government, the NHS - it’s the whole gambit (sic) that’s got to get their head around this …”
That may well be true, but it would be nice to know that the borough council is shouldering its share of the responsibility for presenting the town’s case.
And it’s not simply a matter of getting money.
As has already been pointed out – winning investment to improve the infrastructure … and so ease pressures on services such as health and education – makes the area even more attractive and draws even more incomers to the town – cycling the problem all over again.
Another point made in the programme was that until the proposed £85 million Boston Barrage is in place, there should be a virtual pause on development in the town.
Tomorrow, Lincolnshire County Council’s Executive discusses the project once again – having postponed a decision to chip in its £11 million contribution for a month for a further report.
It seems that - although the barrier could retain water year-round, it would only be
operational during the boating season between April and October – as further investment would be required to increase operational times.
Several concerns were raised because it was initially thought that the barrier would
operate all year round.
Now, the recommendation at tomorrow’s meeting is “consider the progress” on the barrier and confirm Lincolnshire County Council's £11m funding for the project.
The thing that worries us is the apparent shift of emphasis – from building a barrier to provide better protection for more than 10,000 residential properties and 900 businesses currently at risk of tidal flooding in Boston … to spending tens of million so that a bunch of Hooray Henry weekend sailors can ponce around in their rope-soled espadrilles for just half the year.
The projected population rise seems so inevitable to Anglian Water, which  has begun work on a £40 million pipeline from Covenham Reservoir to deliver 26 million litres of water a day to Boston.
But if the population is to soar to the levels predicted, then we need to consider what to do about it.
Today the borough council’s Cabinet of Curiosities debates reducing the present council from 32 members in 18 wards to 30 members in 16 wards.
Whilst this redistributes some current inequities, it takes no account of what this will mean for voters if the population surges as predicted.
In that event, we will need more councillors – not fewer.
But as we have said before - they must be better quality councillors as well.


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