Boston Borough Council has rung in the changes with a new look to the New Year in the Worst Street Cabinet of Curiosities …

BTAC-ky chairman and Fenside Councillor Nigel Welton – who just over a month ago swapped horses from Labour to the Conservatives – has been appointed cabinet portfolio holder for Boston town centre.

He takes the reins from today – from Fishtoft Councillor Paul Skinner, who has held the post since the last election, and who has done for the health of the town centre what myxomatosis did for the rabbit population.

For Councillor Welton, the appointment ticks a lot of boxes, as combining his BTAC role with the town centre portfolio is a natural and obvious marriage.

“I’m looking forward to being able to do what I’ve wanted to do for the past two years.

“Things have been a bit disjointed in a way in that  everything we wanted to do on one side  had the Cabinet on the other side – both doing the same things but through different procedures.

“This ties the pair together – bearing in mind that I’ve only got a year in this. I’ve given up what is probably the safest Labour seat in the town, so in a year’s time I may not be here.”

He believes that the promotion could bring big improvements for Boston.
“I think that from the leader’s point of view, putting the best resources that he can to do the best that they can gives me a lot of confidence that he really wants to shake things up – change things around a lot, make things a lot more streamlined and actually do some good stuff for the town.

“Seeing what I’ve done in the last eighteen months with the events sub-group and the Christmas lights sub-group and all the other things that I have been trying really hard to work on, it makes sense to use the person that’s already doing that and an easier mechanism to put forward what he wants to do.”

We’re told not to anticipate any sudden changes – but that the Market Place and car parking issues will feature high on the agenda.

“I’ve been on the task and finish group that brought a lot of things to  surface which need looking at – the markets, car parks,  and car parking charges ...

“Having the portfolio means that I can actually look at car parking charges and make comparisons with other things. It’s ok doing it as a task and finish group that brings things to light but what you do with them is the interesting thing.

“Car parking is probably one of the earliest things that I am going to have a look at … parking kick starts a lot of things.

“What we need in the long term is the Market Place returning to Boston.

“One thing that really, really annoys me is that a great proportion of the Market Place belongs to Lincolnshire County Council  and that we have to go to them almost cap in hand asking permission.

“They are very good at working with us, but it’s almost like saying ‘I love my garden but I need to ask my neighbour if I can put some extra plants in it … do you mind if I sit in my garden this afternoon …?’

“To be fair, they are really good with us – but it’s a difficult position to be in …”

Boston Eye thinks that the appointment is an interesting one – and in many ways makes sense if it helps improve the town centre and life for local people.

Having said that, our views on BTAC-ky’s policy of huge council tax increases on mostly poor areas of the town to fund things that benefit the borough and beyond remain unchanged – and a clever tightrope act  will be required to maintain fairness and balance.

Time will tell. 

Our next publication be on Monday 22^nd  January and we look forward to you joining us then.

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