It looks as though Boston’s bid for up to £25 million of government money to give the town a much-needed boost may fall by the wayside.

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Last week’s cabinet meeting received an 11th hour report by Tim Leader, Worst Street’s Deputy Chief Executive for strategy, which included a one-minute-to-midnight plea to agree a deal with Boston College that was said to be the only thing that could give Boston a chance of laying hands on the cash using the PE21 Project as bait.

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PE21 was authorised in 2017, and a “masterplan” produced early in 2018.

COVID19 caused it to stall, and Mr Leader’s report said that critical design work, technical and viability studies have not been carried out.

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“If it is to deliver what was promised, pace and resources need to be injected, the concept needs to be validated by the market (or developed, so far as is possible, to ensure that it does “stack up”) and partners fully engaged.

“The project must also be managed professionally and be subject to rigorous performance management.

“First and foremost, the technical studies which need to be carried out to support the Towns Fund bid will need to be procured under the council’s urgency arrangements.

“Other work needs to be commissioned quickly. Progress needs to be made.

“Otherwise, there is a real risk that the energy which has been generated will dissipate and threaten any prospect of delivery in the short term or at all.

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Whilst that report listed on the agenda as “to follow” for some while – arrived in time for the meeting, the real make-your-mind-up-stuff was saved for the night itself.

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Mr Leader said that the PE21 scheme hinged critically on a couple of flagship projects.

One was called the Mayflower Centre, to be developed by Boston College ... a “showcase” for the college, a “fantastic” piece of architecture, a “fantastic” educational facility and a “gateway” to PE21.

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“It sits on the site of the Geoff Moulder Centre; we have known this for a very long time.”

That very afternoon, the meeting heard, he met the college principal, some of her officers and architects, and she looked him in the eye and said: “I am about to spend tens of thousands of pounds into working up a notion into something concrete and I need the council to give me the confidence that if I press the button you’re going to allow me to do what you indicated in the past and allow me to take the site and do something fantastic with it.”

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Apparently, this fantastic idea involves razing the Moulder to the ground.

But have no fear.

A new leisure centre will be combined with the existing doctors’ surgery and car park in yet another “fantastic “notion.

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Both projects would be able to draw on Town Fund monies, and “frankly, if these two projects do not come off, it will be very difficult to put forward a credible Towns Fund bid, and frankly that would be a tragedy for the town.

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“So, having been put on the spot by the Principal of Boston College today I would invite you to consider this  – whether you are content for us to indicate firmly ... but not with finality ... that we are prepared to enter into firm negotiations for an agreement to lease and a lease for the Geoff Moulder site so that she can instruct her architects to spend a lot of money to produce for you a flagship development for PE21 Town Fund bid.”

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So that’s what the cabinet did.

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And after months of apparent inertia we were set to race hell-for-leather down the final straight and breast the finishing tape just in time to meet the government deadline.

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Never mind that we have had an age to do this, and that other local authorities have finished their bids and even invited the minister involved to visit them an discuss things.

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But ...

And in Boston there’s always a but ...

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Regular readers will recall the reaction after the Worst Street/Manby merger was railroaded thorough with little or no consultation of the non-ruling party members.

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Boston Eye understands that opposition  councillors have now asked for the decision regarding the Moulder to be “called in” – put on hold until it can be properly scrutinised.

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The request provoked a gritty response from Mr Leader, who made the outcome clear in no uncertain terms.

He warned that a call-in would prevent the submission of Boston’s Town Investment Plan at the end of October – which he said would destroy the council’s reputation with government, and create a significant risk that if the submission was delayed, fewer funds will remain in the Town Fund for Boston to claim.

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As a sop for agreement, he pledged that he and other officers would immediately support a thorough scrutiny of the decision and, if requested, the progress of the Town Fund more generally in the near future.

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We have to admit to mystification at the mention of the Moulder site being a “gateway” to the 10-acre PE21 site.

According to the plans published by Worst Street, the site is clearly defined – and almost mirrors that of the ill-fated Merchants Quay development which crashed and burned more than ten years ago.

What it does not include – or go anywhere near – is the Moulder Leisure Centre.

Boston College has only recently done a deal for an £8 million-plus “public sector hub” with East Lindsey District Council

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And whilst we have no doubt that the Mayflower Centre,  would be a “showcase” for the college, a “fantastic” piece of architecture, and a “fantastic” educational facility ... a  “gateway” to PE21" it would not be.

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What Boston needs is a showcase for Boston. 

Nothing else will really do.

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Sadly, all of this – last week’s meeting and this week’s opposition reaction – was lost in the fallout from former cabinet member Councillor David Brown’s attendance at the virtual meeting whilst driving a lorry.

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But his subsequent resignation and other events have produced ripples for the beleaguered Conservative group – the most significant of which is that they seem to have lost control of the council.

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The cabinet is now back to seven members from eight, with Councillor Brown’s former duties shared among the rump. We wonder if the promised ninth – err, sorry eighth – extra member will now materialise, as Leader Paul Skinner must surely be running out of options.

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And to make matters worse, another former cabinet member, Martin Howard, who resigned his post a couple of months ago and said he would stand down entirely when a by-election can be held next May, has quit the Tories and joined the independent Independents rather than the Bostonian lot.

***

This means that the political line-up is now: Conservatives – 14; Independents – 7; Bostonian Independents – 5; Labour – 2; and “Unaligned” – 2.

  

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