As Lincolnshire County Council’s heavily-censored final meeting before next month’s elections went through the motions last week, we were treated to a “Leader’s review of the council 2009-13.”  If Councillor Martin Hill expected the mentions of Boston to act as a persuader for wavering voters to re-elect the Tories for a further four years, he might well be disappointed.  The best he could come up with was to say that the county has “invested in town centre improvements in Boston, including an historic Grade II-listed townhouse, and Grantham.” Presumably, the town centre improvement he had in mind was the refurbishment of the Market Place – hailed almost universally as a disaster. And the listed townhouse is doubtless 116 High Street – acquired by Heritage Lincolnshire after years on the English Heritage “At Risk” register. The house was the town’s first private bank, which operated between 1754 and 1891. Boston Borough Council was involved in the compulsory purchase of the building in 2004 after which little appeared to happen until it did a deal with the Heritage Trust four years later. Why does all this remind us to the sorry saga of the neglect of the town’s Assembly Rooms – which will soon miss their second promised re-opening date?

The Big Leader’s  other mention of things of note that the county has done for Boston during its four year reign was the closure of county council facilities in the town, and the subsequent relocation of staff in borough council premises, which reduced the cost of accommodation per employee from £2,000 to £700. That’s a generous slice of cash back, but it would be interesting to know exactly what it has meant to us locally. We don’t seem to have heard any mention of rental paid by the county to the borough for the office space it now utilises, and which by all accounts should be a substantial bonus for the council’s creaking coffers. Surely, we’re not doing this for the love of it, are we?
As the election draws nearer we enter a delicate period where councils tread carefully to avoid seeming to promote parties or individuals.  So it came as something of a surprise to read on the borough council website about the benefits to Boston from last week’s county council approval of Lincolnshire's ten-year strategy for transport. Local items mentioned included a distributor road, the Waterways Project which will turn Boston into a staging post for visitors to Lincoln, Peterborough and Ely cathedrals, the new St Botolph's footbridge and improvements to public transport infrastructure.  Aside from the fact that news like this is normally issued from county hall the timing is clearly helpful in a borough where four of the candidates for Boston’s seven seats are high-ranking Conservative members of the borough cabinet –  among them the leader and his joint deputies.
Still with county politics, we noted some amusing comments from Tory councillor Andrea Jenkyns on the news that she has been selected to challenge Labour’s shadow chancellor Ed Balls in the Morley and Outwood constituency at the 2015 general election. The Boston Standard followed up last week’s Boston Eye report on its website later in the day,  when Miss Jenkyns  declared that her selection to stand as an MP was good for the town “as it will give her the opportunity to raise matters with government ministers,” adding that whilst she will continue to live in the town during her candidacy she would look at the situation again if elected to the House of Commons – “pointing to the fact that some MPs hold full-time jobs and what she was proposing would effectively be no different to this.” Hmmm. Meanwhile, one or two of our political acquaintances have raised an eyebrow at the claim made on the Conservative Party website that “among her many achievements is securing £10,000 of place check (sic) funding to improve the local community marina and establishing not-for-profit narrow boat trips as a means of increasing tourism into the area.”  Either we missed that, or more by way of explanation is needed.
Earlier, we mentioned the so-called improvements that have been made in Boston. The council has been very keen to encourage local businesses in the town’s conservation area to take up grant funding available from English Heritage. Recently, we heard of a plan to improve the look of Church Street in the town – with an ambitious plan to make it comparable to the famous Shambles in York. Whilst the idea is certainly challenging, it is not beyond the realms of possibility – so long as the council refrains from placing obstacles in the way. That’s why we were surprised to learn that the borough is quite adamant that a brick-built bay window on one of the shop fronts should be removed as part of any application for grant aid. Admittedly, it is a 1950s addition, but it adds character to the street that might be lost by its removal. It’s taken years to get people interested in the grant scheme, and we wonder what on earth the council is thinking of by adopting this sort of stance.
Whilst the Market Place is generally the part of town with which the phrase “an accident waiting to happen” is most usually associated, we have found another road which runs a close second. The unnamed road which brings traffic in and out of the rear of the Pescod Centre joins the junction with Pen Street at a set of traffic lights, only one of which is pedestrian controlled. Anyone crossing in the direction of Wide Bargate takes their life in their hands, and occasionally so do some people who might expect to cross in safety.  Although traffic is banned from leaving Pescod and turning right into Main Ridge West, this doesn’t appear to deter some motorists, and earlier this week we saw a pedestrian almost knocked down by a vehicle turning right as she crossed with permission of the pedestrian light. Road safety officers please note.
On the other side of the street, we note an application to turn an empty shop in Vauxhall Road into an off  licence – to sell booze for 12 hours a day, seven days a week. If successful, it will become the fourth such outlet within a few hundred yards. Not only that, but there is a pub in the street as well. Meanwhile, another application – this time for a 13 hour daily stint –  has been made in West Street, of all places. Surely, these two areas have more than enough drink outlets without the need for still more?
On a stroll into town last week we encountered the weekly craft market in the area around Boston Stump. Stall holders told us that they had returned some weeks earlier, and that, so far, things were going pretty well – although from what we saw, a little more by way of support would not go amiss. We mentioned the market to one or two of our friends, who expressed surprise that there appeared to have been no announcement of its return after the winter break. Attractions such as this need regularly publicising – if they are not, then they eventually disappear. Having said that, we were surprised to read of what appeared to be an alternative attraction in the form of a craft fair in nearby Pescod Square. Of course, it is part of the rôle of a shopping centre to stage events to draw more customers – but couldn’t a little imagination have been use to come up with something different?
The area where Wide Bargate abuts Strait Bargate near W H Smith is once again a gloomy looking part of town following the departure of the Phoenix non-smoking group from the former Sketchley’s shop. The place began life as part of an exercise in which Boston Borough Council threw more than £50,000 in government grant money down the drain with an effervescently incompetent plan to brighten up empty shops and run down areas of the town.  The result was the home for dispensers of do-gooding leaflets and the Room 52 Gallery run by the Giles Academy. The latter closed down after the term at which the premises were leased on a peppercorn rent, and is now occupied by Age UK Boston and South Holland, which appears to have vacated its County Hall offices. The newly vacated premises are currently on offer to lease for £58,000 a year. We were critical of the use of the shops when they were originally refurbished, and they remain totally unappealing and inappropriate for a high profile part of the town. It’s all to do with appearances and style – something which is sadly lacking around the place these days.
What Boston’s car park czar Councillor Derek Richmond doubtless thought was a persuasive case for increasing charges has fallen on stony ground among readers of our local “newspapers.” They have replied in their droves to his recent letter to editors to point out that other towns around the country can offer some spaces free of charge, and stress that cheaper parking can attract more people to the town.  Damning words and phrases such as “extortion,” “soft option,” and “daylight robbery” have all been used to describe the situation. Harsh as this language is, it is nonetheless all true – and the only people who fail to recognise the fact are the members of Boston Borough Council’s so-called leadership.

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