a lone voice for Boston these days ...

Where are the
Tories when it's time to speak out for Boston
at County Hall these days ... ?

We’re not sure what our Conservative representatives on Lincolnshire County Council are doing for Boston these days.
Last Friday they attended the annual meeting but were as silent as ever when it came to raising issues of importance to the borough.
So – yet again – it fell to Independent Councillor Ray Newell to raise the flag on Boston’s behalf.
Fresh from his success in badgering the county over the issue of fast water rescue boats – which has seen Boston allocated not one, but two – he is now turning his attention to a lack of forward planning, after the Office for National Statistics reported that the borough’s population will increase by 12,000 in the coming eight years.
In comparative terms, he said that this was more than the current population of Mablethorpe, or Market Deeping, - or 80%  that of Sleaford.
“Imagine taking the population of these towns, together with their infrastructure of roads, housing, schools, businesses, hospital beds and necessary jobs, and relocating them in Boston, all within the next eight years!
“Boston’s roads are already congested.
“The schools are bursting at the seams.
“Houses of Multiple Occupation abound, and overcrowding is endemic.
“Businesses are struggling, and Boston Pilgrim Hospital has well publicised difficulties.
“Boston has one of the highest birth rates in the country.
"It is top of the list of those with no formal educational qualifications.
“Boston has a huge Eastern European population.
“Boston is the largest town by population in the administrative county of Lincolnshire, and growing fast!
“Infrastructural investment in our future makes political and economic sense.
“I suspect that the people of Boston will not willingly accept being ignored.”
During the meeting he  also raised the issue of the waste of fresh water after the Environment Agency said that around half a trillion litres is poured into the sea from Boston each year.
He asked for a brief report to be compiled on the feasibility of saving some of that water for domestic, agricultural and commercial use in Boston, and beyond; using the flow of that water to the sea to generate green electricity; and using the tidal power of two strong tides every 24 hours to supplement that generation of green energy.
He added: “The report should also encompass the £40 million water pipeline which is presently under construction by Anglian Water to bring water to Boston. I understand that this £40 million scheme will require the construction of a reservoir.”
Although the question was directed at County Council Leader Martin Hill, he sidestepped it.
Other than commenting that the water didn’t just come from Boston - but from the whole of Lincolnshire and also passed through Lincoln on its way into the North Sea – he handed over to his deputy … the executive member for economic development, Councillor Eddy Poll
The more we see Councillor Poll in action, the more we wonder whether he is a councillor first and a frustrated comedian second – or a frustrated comedian first, and councillor second.
Certainly, having chided Councillor Newell for the length of his question - “a bit more of a statement” - he then dropped in a couple of jokes that dragged out his own response unnecessarily.
The drift of his answer was that tidal flows would not generate much electricity.
But since it had started raining, the drainage systems around the county had been working very hard to pump the rainwater out to sea.
He had been discussing this very subject with the Environment Agency last week – not just the issue of farm water storage for irrigation of crops “and stuff” but also the retention of water within the system to enable us to siphon some off to provide extra supplies.
He said that we needed to capture as much of it as possible - rather than just let it go into the sea – and promised that the matter would be kept "under review."
Given his previous tenacity, we are sure that Councillor Newell will persist with questions on this issue.
The waste of so much fresh water – when it is soon to be piped all the way from Covenham to supplement Boston’s supply - is something that should concern us all.

And that includes the silent Tories on the county council as well.

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

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.comYour e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.
Our former blog is archived at: http://bostoneyelincolnshire.blogspot.com