With just two weeks to go to the rearranged Boston Beat free concert in Central Park, we now know the names of two of the performing bands - which are both local.They are The Sensational Soul Band – the “premier classic live soul and Motown band, Lincolnshire-based wedding, function and party band – and rock musicians Audio Tap. Whilst we are sure of a good performance, we are just beginning to wonder why the concert is going to be so expensive. The cost being talked about is £10,000 – which is being paid by Boston Business Improvement  District - which means that local businesses are footing the bill through the compulsory “levy” imposed on them and reinforced with court action by Boston Borough Council if they refuse to pay. Quite how this particular gig will benefit local business is anyone’s guess. The event is confined to the park, and is self-contained in that it will provide food and a beer tent … despite the designated public place order in the park. A couple of days ago we asked the company that is organising the bash for more information – but so far, no answer has been forthcoming.
It is almost eerie the way that Boston BID’s activities always seem convoluted. This will be the third week of telling them that the announcement of the winning bids for £100,000 to be a Portas Pilot showed that Boston was not among the successful candidates. Yet the BID website persists in telling us “we believe we have as good a chance as any in being successful.”   Not only that, but we understand that the BID decided not  to tweak its application - which would have given it a second chance. What a strange way to support our local businesses.
It seems that £10,000 is a convenient figure these days. This same sum is said to have been allocated by Boston Borough Council  to fund the passage of the Olympic torch through the district - and event totalling .... around 35 minutes!  In common with many others, we thought that this cost was covered by the games organisers. Not only that,  but it has emerged that many councillors were totally unaware of this cost. One question occurred to us the morning after the procession - when we saw the huge numbers of crowd barriers stacked here, there and everywhere. Did we buy them or did we hire them? They were clearly brand new – which suggests that they were bought. Checking prices, we found that the cost of a new barrier is around £50 plus VAT – whilst the same thing can be hired for £1.50 a week. Surely the council hasn’t been daft enough to spend the thick end of £10,000 on crowd control fencing? Or perhaps it’s planning parades through the town each week, which would make them a necessity!
We note the latest move by Lincolnshire County Council to make Lincoln the bees knees at the expense of the rest of us.  This time the demand is for more direct trains between Lincoln and London to boost the economy. The  county council  would like to see a minimum of four  trains going down and four coming back, - including one early one. "We do have a lot of businesses that rely on trading and contacts in London, so the improvement to get more people to meetings or to go down to deliver presentations in London is important," said a county council spokesman. Train services between Boston and London are laughable to say the least – and there are no direct services at all. But yet again the focus in on Lincoln – and it’s highly likely that if the call for extra services succeeds it will be at the expense of cuts elsewhere.
It may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but the latest issue of Boston Borough Council’s monthly bulletin has not been going down too well with some “customers.” The e-mail accompanying the June issue trumpetsed “It comes to you in a full, real-life page-turning format. All you need to do is click on the link and wait a few seconds for the new-look bulletin to open on your screen.” Yes, that’s true  ... but not for users of many Apple machines – including the most popular of them all,  the iPad. The  fancy new bulletin relies on an application called Flash, which Apple does not support.  Just as we though that the Pavane syndrome  had struck yet  again, an accessible version for the Mac appeared - a week later
This week’s centenary celebration issue of the Boston Standard brought back many memories for Boston and Mrs Eye, who worked there in the 1960s. Sadly, it also served to remind us how a once great newspaper has lost its way. One contributor to the Standard supplement recalls how something like 150 people would queue each week to buy their paper hot from the press – which was then based in town.  The paper was packed with stories, and it is fair to say that nothing happened in the town that the Standard didn’t get to know about. How times have changed.
What a terrible indictment of the ruling Conservative group on Boston Borough Council when an observer at the debate on charging disabled blue badge holders reports:  “It was like watching sheep. Every Conservative councillor voted together. They obviously didn’t have minds of their own.” Whilst it’s not the first time that the Tories have been so accused, it is perhaps the most succinct and damning condemnation of the group so far. We would have hoped by now that even some of the more pliant Conservatives had tired of  unthinkingly doing what they are told, and echoing the risible arguments of the leadership.  Local politics should be less about party loyalty, and more about doing what is best for the people one is elected to serve. It’s time the Tories bore that in mind.
We hope that between last Monday’s vote and any threatened legal action to overturn the decision, the council does not decide that the delay in introducing charges means that the town’s disabled drivers owe them some back pay and get heavy with the issue of parking tickets. At the moment there’s an even easier target for tickets – the newly refurbished Market Place

The picture above was taken on Tuesday, and shows how the new parking arrangements are being flouted. Despite the borough’s warnings that any honeymoon period for parking will soon be over, it is clear that absolutely nothing is being done to address this problem – other than dumping a couple of ineffectual  signs around the place. The result of this random parking is to make life a misery for pedestrians and motorists alike. Cars come and go from all directions. Many drivers do not accept that they should respect pedestrians using the Market Place. And on top of that, the confounded Into Town buses come parping through the place far more often than we were originally told. All of this combines to ruin any ambience that might have been achieved by the refurbishment. Instead we have simply seen the waste of a couple of million pounds.

An interesting argument during the disabled parking debate came from Boston District Independent Councillor Alison Austin, who reminded members that the borough’s own car parking strategy declared that car parking was one of the many functions that contributed towards the success of a town centre. “The success of Boston’s town centre is related to the experiences of the people who use it,” she went on.  “Don’t we want our town to be one that has the reputation of being a place where all are welcome?”   Councillor Austin argued that the council had failed to meet many of its own criteria, and suggested that the claim that a low number of people responded to the consultation was because notices were put up in the town’s car parks over the May Fair period when most people – able bodied or otherwise - avoided the town centre.  After  highlighting the general  problems of the disabled, Councillor Austin concluded: “We’ve witnessed instances recently where the most high profile of all Conservative groups, namely that in Westminster, has after due consideration and with supporting evidence, had the courage to admit that their policy was flawed and reversed their original decision.  In light of the evidence put forward both tonight and in the preceding weeks showing that this whole policy if flawed, does this Conservative group have that same courage tonight?”  Well, we all know the answer to that one!
Surely, someone is taking the mickey by deciding to return the vandalised Jubilee fountain to its former position in Central Park. We are told that it will be reinforced to try to avoid future vandalism. Frankly, that doesn’t sound too realistic. Councillor Yvonne Gunter, Boston’s  leisure portfolio holder, told the local papers: “The fountain is of solid construction, and very heavy, but the vandals were determined that it should be damaged.”  According to the reports at the time, the  vandals were two 13 year-old girls – not a horde of Visigoths armed with swords and axes.  To reinforce the fountain without spoiling the look of it is a tall order. Perhaps re-siting it would be better.
Given the link between voting in both national and local elections, it might well be a good time for Boston’s ruling Tories to start thinking ahead to May 2015.  The latest poll analysis by ElectoralCalculus  shows that if a general election were held tomorrow, Labour  would win 375 seats and have  a majority of 100 seats. What that might mean for Boston, we couldn’t say – other than that it would not be good … for the Tories, that is.
Finally, after yesterday’s item on Monday’s immigration protest march meeting, Independent Councillor Carol Taylor  tells us : “I was at this meeting and not one of those who ‘sat in the back room upstairs’ as suggested. I attended for two reasons. Firstly, I live and work here, and secondly as an elected councillor to show my support for the people of Boston. This didn't mean that I had to vote ‘yes’ for the march. I voted against the march as I am entitled to do so and Mr Everitt in his opening remarks said it was important for us to decide individually whether to vote yes or no. If I remember correctly, the original rationale for the march was to raise awareness with the council and the government. Mr Everitt has done an amazing job in doing this to the point where he has met with Mark Simmonds and ministers from the Home Office as well as other officials. Of course this now leads us to consider what the March is now meant to say. Is it now a case of organising a future Static Protest and change the aim to ‘reduce the number of immigrant workers into Boston’
(example only)? If so, then this cannot be achieved at local level as we just do not have that power.  I do not believe either that a march in London will help us unless we can present a petition of several thousand names and for it to be presented at Number 10 and received by a senior official. A static protest would appear to be the next step when considering all the facts, emotions and opinions of the people of Boston. Once again though I congratulate Mr Everitt for standing up for what he truly believes and which I have done when voting NO to a march.”

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