The extraordinary meeting of Boston Borough Council to discuss the secret sale of the town’s Assembly Rooms has been set for 24th September – exactly five weeks from today.
Given the excuse of “urgency” which initially saw the council’s cabinet approve the sale and exclude it from debate – even though there was a full council meeting that same day where it could easily have been included on the agenda – there must now be a few more questions arising.
A lot can happen in five weeks – in fact it is entirely possible that since the sale was approved on 25^th July … almost four weeks ago – it could be completed by the time the council gets round to discussing it.
We would hope that this is not likely to happen, but then so twisted are the workings of the cabinet that we would not rule anything out.
However, given that the Assembly Rooms are Grade II* listed, coupled with the controversy over their sale – which could include the closure of the Market Place public toilets – the sale cannot be completed without appropriate consents,  which include planning permission if  any change of use  is required, together with listed building consent.
A look at the current list of applications submitted to the council shows that none has been made to date.
All this gives breathing space for opponents of the plan.
While most of them have reluctantly acknowledged that the Assembly Rooms have now been so badly neglected by successive councils that a sale is inevitable, the closure of the public toilets is another matter, and one where battle lines have been drawn.
Latest to join the fray is local campaigner Martin Robbins –  who decided to launch a petition on Boston Borough Council’s website.
It reads: “The Assembly Rooms belong to "THE PEOPLE" of Boston. Failure by successive Boston Borough Councils to maintain the building have ruined a listed landmark in Boston, more widely known than the market place.
“This petition urges the council to face its responsibilities and keep and restore the Assembly Rooms as a council owned property.”
Unfortunately, although Mr Robbins says he was told that his petition would be up and running in three working days – which he calculates to be last Monday –  a visit to the hard-to-find-e-petition page on the borough’s website contains no sign of it.
As a result, Mr Robbins has written to selected councillors to complain.
He says: “It seems now in an attempt to stop all dissent against the sale of the Assembly Rooms, all
e-petitions including mine have been removed from the council’s website.
“Are we entering a NEW Russian State here in Boston?
“This is a conversation I had online at the council’s website with Customer Services.
We are in fact NOT Customers, we are in fact the Council’s EMPLOYERS!
Customer Services: “Good morning, how can I help you ?
Martin Robbins: “Could you please inform me as to why my e-petition is not on site?
Customer Services: “Could you give me some more information please …
Martin Robbins: “In fact NO e-petitions are on your website at all, I was sent an email last week saying it would be on your website the beginning of this week. Is this Boston Borough Council’s way of suppressing any objections to the council's plans to sell the Assembly Rooms?
Customer Services: “Unfortunately the gentleman I need to speak to is on leave this week. Could you give me your e-mail address and  ‘phone number and I will get him to contact you first thing Monday morning …”
We wait with bated breath …
Mr Robbins says of his campaign: “I believe the town should keep the Assembly Rooms, refurbish them and the toilets and thus enhance, not further erode, what is after all, our property. They will sell the council’s silver again given half the chance!
As the campaign to save the public toilets, if nothing else, gathers momentum, campaigners have been offered help from the British Toilet Association .
And as far as the building itself is concerned, it may well be that English Heritage will have a view on any future  use.
Then, of course, there is The Georgian Group  – which hope that some local campaigner will contact regarding the sale.
The group is a national charity dedicated to preserving Georgian buildings and gardens, and tells visitors to its website: “Every year we are consulted on over 6,000 planning applications involving demolition or alterations. Our intervention has helped save many Georgian buildings and has protected others from harm. It is often through our influence that a better solution is found.”
 

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