We’ve become accustomed to the appearance of a week or month that draws attention to things that lazy public relations promoters can’t be bothered to apply any more than the minimum of effort to.

This week sees rabbit awareness week – and too many others to mention, including eat what you want day, international day of families and the great British fish and chip supper.
Yet so far, not one seems to have found time to create a Waffle Awareness Day – but if one were ever to be created, we would nominate Boston as the base for its national headquarters.
For instance ...
Last week we mentioned Council Leader Pete Bedford’s apparently limitless knowledge of things that we ordinary mortals can only guess at,  with his pronunciations on flooding and the Boston Barrier.
He has also been showing off his knowledge of the retail industry as well, as part of a special feature in the Boston Standard.
As you might expect, it was littered with buzzwords such as sustainability, resilience and flexibility, with the bottom line that “the internet and fast-changing shopping habits have transformed how we shop.
“So there is no way the traditional town centre or high street can expect to be able to stay exactly as it always has been,” he declared.
Whilst that argument holds some water (as will the Boston Barrier, Mr Bedford repeatedly reassures us) it is not as applicable to Boston in the same way as it is to other shopping centres.
Mr Bedford rattles on about footfall – which does not strike us as especially impressive, as the council’s own figures claim an average daily figure of less than 2,500 – and a decline of traditional shops “as more people look to town centres for their leisure, community and evening economy, eating and drinking needs.”
If they do, they may well be disappointed, as the council seems likely to introduce rigorous curbs on drinking in public places.
It seems that the Puritans never left Boston after all.
All of this leads to the pronouncement: “We also need destinations, not necessarily shops.”
Fine, but what did your scriptwriter have in mind, Mr Bedford?
One of our greatest assets, the new, improved, Market Place, has never been exploited to a fraction of its potential.
Two years ago it was said that avenues being “explored,” included  establishing an expanded open air street café, working with specialist craft market sellers to “potentially” introduce a “small” fortnightly craft market into the Market Place on Thursdays and Fridays, whilst further ideas, including farmers’ markets and other types of continental markets were also being “explored.”
The council was also “seeking” to establish a series of summer events in the Market Place that could involve local groups such as performing arts, musicians, choral groups and the like.
Discussions and feasibility “remained in their early stages” (and stayed there, it seems) but the declared aim was to encourage good quality and attractive street entertainment, “subject to the management resources being available.”
Here’s a reminder of what’s happened so far … 

 

Mr Bedford goes on to talk about the South East Lincolnshire Joint Planning Committee's retail study forecasts up to 2031, which also refers to a reduction in retail space in Boston down the years.

We’ve looked at this report.
It mentions Boston six times – only by way of a name-check – and nothing by way of any imaginative ideas.
And we mentioned waffle earlier on.
Oh dear...
Just reading the timetable tells you all you need to know …
The phrase “all mouth and no trousers” springs to mind.
January - April 2012 – Sustainability Appraisal scoping report. 
May 2012 - April 2013 – Preparation of Preferred Options and Sustainability Appraisal report.
May - June 2013 – Public participation on Preferred Options and Sustainability Appraisal report.
June - December 2013 – Consideration of representations and discussions with stakeholders.
January - September 2014 – Further work in response to the consideration of representations, the findings of additional evidence gathering and identification of options for site allocations.
October - November 2014 – Consultation period on options arising from further work and options for site allocations.
December 2014 - March 2015 – Consideration of representations and discussions with stakeholders.
April 2015 - September 2015 – Preparation of ‘Draft Local Plan.’
October - November 2015 – Consultation period on Draft Local Plan.
December 2015 – Submission of Draft Local Plan to the Planning Inspectorate.
March 2016 – Public Examination.
June 2016 –   Receipt of Inspector’s report.
July 2016 – Consideration of Inspector’s report by Joint Committee.
August 2016 – Adoption of Local Plan.
Looks great on paper, doesn’t it.
But will it come to anything?
That’s doubtful.
Even Boston Borough Council has admitted that planning so far into the future is impossible these days because of ever-changing economic and other factors.
And a couple of other points made by Mr Bedford …
He says that Boston Borough Council facilitates business by providing a wide range of car parks in a lot of locations.
Yes, but income from these is falling because the council is greedy and sees motorists as nothing more than cash cows.
Therefore, fewer people park in the town centre … so business declines … so shops close … and nothing by way of an alternative is provided.
He also talks about an £80,000 investment in the shop front and building repair grant scheme in partnership with English Heritage.
When this was announced two years ago, it was said that £650,000 could be made available over five years.
Since then, the scheme has been poorly publicised and promoted and the take up abysmal – and soon the money will no longer be available.
None of this points to any reasons to be cheerful – so why Mr Bedford is so sanguine is anyone’s guess.
There’s little point in trumpeting jam tomorrow plans some 17 years hence when we are doing nothing for the here and now.
But sadly, this is what seems to be a regular occurrence in Boston.

 ***

 

Continuing our waffle theme, we noted at the first meeting of Boston Big Local since the various internal tribulations beset it was held behind closed doors with what limited reporting there was done under  the Chatham House Rules, which keeps the names of speakers anonymous.
Apparently the “pathway” was discussed, and a timeline “resisting looking into the future” with  the Big Local compared to a wheel with more people at the rim, and the spokes – people supporting decisions – providing tension and connecting to the hub (that’s the core group) to everyone on the rim.
It all sounds very high falutin’ and highly pretentious, but what we think the group needs is a bicycle pump before anything else.

***

 

After we wrote about next year’s local elections, we were reminded of an e-mail we received soon after we resumed blogging earlier this year, and which summed up the situation vis-à-vis our “leadership” very nicely.

The writer declared: “It would seem that throughout the political landscape nowadays there is a prime desire for maintaining a grip on power without a full acknowledgement that the power sought comes from the electorate.
“Until we can shake off the party system and its accent on working for party power sooner than working for the common good, we shall continue to have to listen to such drivel from people could, with an unfettered mind, really do better for Boston.”

***

Interestingly, we recently had occasion to enlist the aid of one of our ward councillors for help to with an irritating problem – and were soon reminded of the inaccuracy of the expression “you don’t keep a dog and bark yourself.”
We have sought help from this councillor before – in fact, we hoped it might be a case of third time lucky – but this was not to be.
After a silence of some weeks, we sent a follow-up e-mail, only to be told that we had received no reply because the original had not arrived.
This seemed unlikely, as we had used the “official” Boston Borough Council address, and had entered it correctly, and nor had we had the message rejected as undeliverable.
And oddly enough, this self-same councillor had used this self-same explanation before.
Finally, after several weeks, we were told that the councillor in question could not help, as the matter fell within the remit of Lincolnshire County Council, and thus beyond the  sphere of operation of our local member.
We were given a ’phone number, and that was the end of the story.
Well, not quite.
A check which took less than five minutes came up with a local office of the county department – and one which was based in Worst Street as well.
One e-mail to them and the problem was resolved within days.
It seems not unreasonable to imagine that after three years in office our well-paid local representative might have acquired this information – or perhaps not.
We wonder how many others have been told that their e-mail had not arrived – and failed to take matters any further.

***

 Meanwhile, we note that the former UKIP-pers on Boston Borough Council remain as committed as ever when it comes to getting to grips with local politics.

Readers may remember that when Bob McAuley and Patrisha Ann Keywood-Wainwright were elected to the council under the UKIP banner, it was not too long before they defected to a sub group in support of Councillor Chris Pain, who was removed as county leader by the national party.
Complaining of  “the complete lack of respect, and the unprofessionalism" with which the party officers dealt with their concerns, they decided to rename themselves “UKIP Lincolnshire.”
But under council rules, the group name could no longer include the name UKIP.
Arise, the  Independence from Europe  group …
But after Monday’s Mayor-making ceremony, where guests included County Councillor Marianne Overton – the incongruously styled “leader” of the Lincolnshire Independents – Boston’s dynamic duo came up with yet another name for their merry band.
Henceforth, they will be known as Lincolnshire Independents, and have switched allegiance to LI at the Lincoln head office as well, where they join Boston’s newly appointed Mayor, Councillor Alison Austin.
Mrs Austin is also no stranger to political name changes. After four years in office as a member of the  Boston Bypass Independents, the  slaughter of the party at  the 2011 local elections prompted a change of name to the  Boston District Independents in 2012  – presumably to fool some of the people some of the time who thought they were re-electing a BBI candidate.
But then for some unspecified reason, the BBI survivors changed their title yet again, and are now known as the Independent Group 2.
Many people will argue that what you call yourself doesn’t matter as much as what you do.
But in the case of our two most recent arrivals at Worst Street we struggle to think of anything that they’ve done – except to stand as candidates for a national party and then abandon the people who elected them.
Worse still, the chance of any decent crack at organised opposition in the council chamber has gone down the drain because of all this childishness among parties.

***

 Still with elections, we suppose that it was inevitable, but Boston is coming in for the usual treatment from our friends in Fleet Street as the European poll looms large on the horizon.

In Saturday’s Times, beneath the headline: “They’re not so worked up over Poles in the heart of Ukipshire” there appeared a story that can be summed up by these two paragraphs …
“Boston doesn’t get worked up by the outside world. It was once a semi-comatose retirement haven. Then it became the town where no one went, its skills — wool, weaving, goose feathers — largely irrelevant.
“Then in the space of a decade, dating from the accession of east European countries to the EU, it became a place where everybody east of the Oder wanted to go. Boston’s population has grown by 15 per cent to 65,000, perhaps ten thousand more if non-registered immigrants are brought into the sum, and it has become more noisy, more Slav, and in certain areas, more prosperous.”
If you want to read the piece, you can find it here … http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4086045.ece
Yes, and remind us to check the atlas, it you would, so that we can find out which Boston the hacks visit when they make their rare safaris outside the M25 corridor.

***

We read the reports last week about the faster than light response from Boston firm Magnadata to an appeal for a donation to Boston Borough Council’s First World War Centenary Memorial Appeal.

A handout from the council told us: “Within hours … a donation of £100 was in the appeal's bank account.”
Wonderful.
But why – especially as the appeal was launched more than three months ago – has it taken so long to approach on of the town’s biggest companies?
Presumably this is part of an exercise to paper over the cracks and build on the pitiful few hundred pounds generated so far for this “public appeal” – which is now, of course being underwritten by our council tax and therefore cannot fail.
Interestingly, we have seen no reports of this in our local “newspapers” or on the borough council website.
We wonder why.

***

Meanwhile,  another local issue involving money, which many might think was far more significant,  seems low on the council’s agenda.

We’re referring to the £4 million pound government flood defence fund, which so far has gone largely unclaimed.
Of the 700 properties known to have been affected, only 23 have made formal applications.
Boston Borough Council’s “lead flood officer,” Phil Drury, is quoted as saying: "We have tried to get round the homes and businesses we know were hit and make the process as easy as possible.
“It is on the website, we have written to those properties we know were affected but the next stage is perhaps knocking on doors – but people are not always at home.”
It seems to us that really is a case of getting priorities in the correct order, and hope that the council relies less on its website – which is not among the most widely read in the world.
The personal touch may be less high tech but in this case, where many people are still struggling to cope, is certainly more human and more appreciated than expecting people to do your job for you by scouring the World Wide Web for information.
 

***

We mentioned early in April that the long-deceased Councillor Paul Mould was still listed as alive and well and attending regular Staniland South ward surgeries with Councillor Yvonne Gunter on the first Saturday of each month. Despite that, the entry on Boston Borough Council’s website remains unchanged.

 



 

Doubtless this will be put right … eventually.
In the meantime, we know of at least one person who would be grateful for news of  the late councillor.
As an author, he had a book published shortly before Mr Mould died, and whilst it is still on sale he has heard nothing more.
We were able to put him in touch with the funeral directors, who have dealt with a request for a contact with either kin or legal advisors by ignoring it.
But if you would like to help, please let us know, and we will pass the information on.

***

 Finally, we salute the intrepid drivers of Brylaine buses for their skills and patience in negotiating the roads rather than the pavements for a change during the May Fair week.

An announcement on the company’s website showed just how easy it was.
“Boston Mayfair (sic):  Effecting (sic) all service pick-ups. The Market Place and Wide Bargate will be closed to us from 1^st  to 11^th May 2014 inclusively.  All town service and 61 service will operate from the Boots bus stop and the two bus stops on West Street will be closed and out of use for the duration.”
Now that they’ve shown once again that it can be done, could we suggest that they do us all a favour and stay out of Strait Bargate for the rest of the year as well?
Neither was the Royal Mail slow to let Postman Pat put his feet up during the week of the fair.
For the first time ever, the letterboxes at the old post office on Wide Bargate were sealed up.
Presumably, because it would have required some minor effort to collect the post from it, Royal Snail opted not to bother.
If we were the betting kind, we would put money on the move being a testing of the waters for a permanent closure.

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