Sorry about our non– appearance last week – but we fell victim to a double whammy of a health setback and a major  computer failure ... neither of which are fully better.

***

As always, absence means some catching up.
So here we go …

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“Boston punching above its weight” was the headline on the borough website WorstWeb –  above the claim that Worst Street  is “one of the nation’s most innovative councils”.
The so-called “accolade” was granted at the Local Government Chronicle Awards in London, where Boston was shortlisted among eight contenders in the environmental services category – one of 20 competed for by councils across the UK.
“Judges shortlisted the council after hearing of the myriad of initiatives taken by the council to keep the town and borough clean and tidy – combatting fly tipping and littering and encouraging recycling and reduced contamination,” WorstWeb burbled.
“The council’s entry ... praised the successful partnerships and volunteers who help with initiatives such as Operation Fly Swat, litter enforcement, litter champions and the Big Boston Clean Up.”
Innovative?
Scarcely.
Worst Street has dragged  the Big Clean-up horse to the award pond before – and as a piece of ‘innovation’ it is now in its 12th year.

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It was five years ago that Worst Street last trotted  its clean-up out for recognition – along with  garden waste collections and the long-forgotten Geoff Moulder Leisure Complex swimming partnership. 
Then, the occasion was something called the District Councils Partnership, and it turned out that almost all of the 200-plus district councils  taking part sent in details of their pet schemes – as we said at the time ‘all that seems to be needed to qualify for a place in the league is to post your boast.’

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No, the word ‘innovative’ appeared in one of those concocted quotes from the LGC award organisers designed to make the losers feel good and give them something to boast about.
Incidentally, silence reigned a few days later when the results of the East Midlands Local Authority Challenge 2019 appeared without any mention of Boston.
And the 2019 Lincolnshire Tourism Excellence Awards came and went last month with no mention of us either.

***

Still, they never stop striving in Worst Street ... and they certainly are very trying!
Yet another fanfare from WorstWeb announced: “Boston shows a whole new face to the world next week with the launch of MYBOSTONUK.COM.”
The piece bragged of a new website which has been under construction for the past few months “and will be streamlined, more responsive and user-friendly and the latest member of the new-look family of council websites which includes visitbostonuk.com and thinkbostonuk.com.”

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Poor old Worst Street. The old  front page disappeared on Friday 22nd March – just in time to make it impossible to find the announcement of the notice of next month’s election. 
Worse still, repeated attempts to find any pages – anywhere – were greeted with ...

In terms of forward planning, it’s hard to imagine  a worse time to fool about with your website than when it is likely to eepect more visitors than usual.
Think about it. 
The council tax demands have just gone out, and people will be wanting to find out information which is always supposed to be more easily available online. 
And of course in just over a month it's local election time.
The weekend when all the messing about occurred coincided with the receipt of our voting cards – and we decided to apply for a postal vote.
What do you think the chances were? 
Correct.
Zero.
And as we went to press, there were still problems with the site and difficulties finding some inportant information that we are sure Worst Street would rather we didn't know.

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Talking of elections, whilst we were away the joining of forces between the Blue Revolution Party and the Bostonian Independents Group was formalised at a local meeting. 
Both parties oppose national political policies as a way to run a local authority – feeling that councillors whose hands are not tied can focus more fully on local issues ... and of course, they are right.
A release after the meeting declared that “It was agreed that each independent councillor will remain independent.
“They will be free to act and vote however they feel is in the best interest of their ward with no involvement from any party politics, and by working together, they can effectively mount a strong opposition to push for real change within the borough of Boston.”

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Whilst it sounds good in principle, the history of ‘independence’ in Worst Street has been something of  minefield over the years.
Remember the Boston Bypass ‘Independents’ who spent more time falling out with each other than getting anything done?
Or the United Kingdom Independence Party– which might have controlled Boston Borough Council had it not been for members’ inability to get on civilly, civilly?

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But after next month's election, even if every independent candidate were successful there would not be enough to make a deal of an impact on the workings of the council.
Both BiG and Blue Revolution  are likely to put up three candidates apiece – 20%  of the 30 members required ... and so the maths makes it clear at this stage even  a political miracle wouldn’t  be enough to do the trick and give them a real say.

***

And whilst we wouldn't suggest that BiG had already given up the ghost, it strikes us as odd that the party – formed in May 2018 – would have been deregistered eight months later.

Perhaps this is an example of what’s called quitting while you’re still ahead.

***

It’s a shame really, as BiG has been making all the right noises – especially in a recent release which put the problem of imposing national party politics over what needs doing locally into harsh perspective.
It said: “Looking at Boston over the past 10 years, how and where has it progressed? Very little and nowhere, why?
“Because the Borough Council has been predominantly run by the Conservatives who spend all of their time cutting budgets, services and leaving Boston residents to fend for themselves.
“The Conservatives in Boston have ran (sic) out of steam and have nowhere else to go, they lack ideas, vision and direction. The Conservative Councillors on Boston Borough Council who are also County Councillors, will not challenge their Conservative County Council hierarchy because they do not want to rock the boat, so Boston gets left behind again with lack of roads, investment and infrastructure.
“Lincoln, Grantham and other towns within the County are getting better roads, infrastructure and investment, Boston is yet again left behind.
“Why aren't our Boston Borough Conservative County Councillors challenging the Conservative County Council for a better deal for Boston? They are not interested nor bothered and are not strong enough to stand up to their big brother Conservative Council.”
“In Boston Conservatives are a party of the past, with many of their councillors made up from deserters who failed their electorate from Labour and UKIP,  Labour is non– existent except for the same one or two old faithfuls, and UKIP has disintegrated due to their lack of direction, drive and ambition. All major political parties in Boston are there for party politics and their self– interest –  not the people, who get forgotten and left behind.
“It has never been a better time for Independent Councillors to work together who are not politically minded but share the same vision, aims and objectives to be elected and serve the electorate with fresh ideas, vision, direction and new initiatives. They will tackle the real issues and not just ignore them or push them under the carpet like the current ruling Conservative Councillors do.”

***

Don’t run away with the idea that we are anti-Tory by the way, but the facts are the facts.
And the BiG blast is simply a louder version  of  the one we issued a few weeks ago which in summary asked: "If you are standing for the Tories with the promise to make Boston a better place, are you seriously saying 'Vote for me and I will see that services will be cut but that you will be paying more for them. Not only that, but I will do whatever I am told by my local office in Lincoln and my head office in Westminster regardless of the impact on you”
Vote Tory by all means – but make sure that your candidate has something in the way of guts to put Boston first.

***

Meanwhile, Boston Labour Party was first out of the trap with  list of candidates ... advertised in the local press last week.

Well ahead of the official announcement, Labour has declared 19 candidates in 13 wards.

They are:

Skirbeck – Jacqueline Barton, Paul Gleeson, Paul Kenny

Fenside – Alan Bell and Joseph Pearson

Witham – Andy Izzard and Wendy Gleeson

Coastal – Tracii Edwards

Staniland – Ben Cook and Pam Kenny

Station – Paul Goodall

St Thomas – Mauro Maglione

West – Andy Cook

Fishtoft – Jane Hancock

Five Villages – Ewa Thorley

Kirton & Frampton – Mick Gall and Patrick Glennon

Swineshead & Holland Fen – Jan Finch

Wyberton – Malcolm Limbert

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Although it was well down the list, it was interesting to read that Boston Borough Council has spent almost £40,000 on gagging order payments to – we presume five former – staff in the past five years.
The figures appear in a list obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Lincolnshire Reporter website through one of their two Local Democracy reporters.

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This sort of thing is always concerning as it means that silence is being bought – often for the wrong reasons.
But we also know that Worst Street loves keeping secrets – and that relationships within its walls are often sour.

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Against this backdrop – we hear a suggestion that the council’s cabinet of curiosities has moved against a “persistent and vexatious” complainer by refusing to deal with him any more ... instead passing enquiries on to the Local Government Association, whose job it is not to deal with such things.
Whilst this iron fist in the iron glove approach is typical of Worst Street, we understand that on this occasion it has become so because the purported “complainant” is an elected councillor – who would now appear to have been denied the rights of his office to represent constituents.
What a shame that the elections do not include some Worst Street officers that we might be better off without.

***

Which brings us back to the issue of recording meetings – something that has been raised in no uncertain terms in recent weeks.
One former councillor believes that the root of the problems lies with the Worst Street officers.
“During my time as a Boston Borough Councillor member more than once I noted that the agreed outcome of committee discussion had not appeared in the minutes. 
“In general the unrecorded material tended to be in the areas where officers had, unsuccessfully, tried to guide the members towards a different outcome of discussion of the matter before committee. 
“Of course, the new arrangement of not recording meetings will make it easier/safer to operate what would appear to already be the present system of writing up the minutes to suit.”
This is what the authors of “1066 and all that” would call “a very bad thing.”

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Some word splitting now over our observer's reports of a couple of recent BTAC-ky’s meetings where a request to grant money to Boston Stump was debated.
Councillor Paul Gleeson e–mailed to say: “I am afraid your reporter didn't quite get their facts right.  On the 27th February BTAC decided not to give the £15,000 grant for the school's festival, and to ask for more information on the £2,000 and £3,000 projects.  At their meeting on 20th March they decided not to support the other two projects. 
The two sums concerned were for arts and building projects respectively and were supported in principle subject to a breakdown of how they directly benefited the residents of the BTAC area.
At the time, our reporter took this to mean that the committee was on-side – even though the application was subsequently rejected ... an why not?

***

No harm done though.
Boston Stump’s “Passion for Pounds” project was  back in the news the other day as a beneficiary of £38,850 for “Regenerating a 17th century Church House and adjoining church hall to create a central community venue –  reviving the Blenkin Memorial Hall.”
Yet another worthwhile project, we’re sure.
BUT ...
The money in question came a £36 million government grant for “the great British coast.”
The Blenkin Hall grant was part of a round two phase three project of the Coastal Revival Fund.
We may seem a bit thick here,  but the building in question is not what you might call coastal – apart from the fact that the River Haven flows by some distance away behind a high concrete wall.
Boston Eye’s offices are in an old building near water as well. Had we known about the grants, we might have applied – only joking, of course.
But we wonder whether our parish is becoming more than a little greedy.

***

County Hall’s  indifference to Boston – highlighted earlier in our report on BiG – reached the international stage after a visit to Cannes by Lincolnshire County Councillor Colin Davie.
Councillor Davie, Lincolnshire’s  Executive Member for Economic Development, was attending MIPIM ... an annual four-day international property dog-hanging as a member of the  Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
Afterwards he claimed that Lincolnshire could be set to receive at least £750 million in investment on its major developments – and was quoted as saying: “We were promoting a number of specific sites around business and commercial interest and two of those sites, which I’m very confident are going to come forward, they’re going to put £750 million into the Lincolnshire economy.
“We’re excited about delivering the big stuff which will make a difference in different parts of the county, not just Lincoln, but Grantham, Holbeach, Skegness, Louth and Gainsborough will get a benefit from the work that we’re doing.”
Boston?
Where’s that, Councillor Davie?

***

It’s been a typical couple of weeks for Boston since last we wrote – people being pushed from windows, stabbed, attacked in the street ... all the day to day minutiae that we are told is nothing to worry about.
Even so, we can’t help but worry at the emphasis being placed by our Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Jones on gadgetry.
His explanation of why he needed an 11% council tax rise this year was made against a background of a pledge of a 2% rise next year ... which by a happy co-incidence  happens to be the year that he is up for re-election.
So much money seems to be going on gimmicks like the mini-police scheme and  gadgets such as drones and fancy four-wheel drive vehicles to chase hare coursers around the fields.
We have no doubt that this crime is a problem – but is the expense of pursuing it proportional?
Then there are the handful of officers who are ‘on the street’

We sometimes wonder how they are able to move – buried as they are beneath the host of contraptions shown above, which it’s claimed between them can free  up an hour and twelve minutes  of time per officer per day.
We also note the absence of those big, black, heavy-duty boots that for years were at the heart of a policeman's wardrobe!
More worrying still was the  PCC’s knee-jerk reaction to the latest go-everywhere device from the United States.

Perhaps such a machine – whose wheels turn aside and become propellers if it has to enter water – could come in handy when police chases drive felons from the village green and into the duckpond!

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As always we are indebted to the Lincolnshire Live website – which keeps us so well-informed about happenings in  Newark and Retford under the banner of the Boston off-Target for a regular chuckle. It came up with this howler from Skegness, which we thought we would like to share.

If no-one else, we are sure that our PCC would approve!  

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Finally, a couple of stories that wouldn't have made our  blog if today wasn’t so special.

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Rumours abound that Boston Borough Council  has done a deal to sell its West Street headquarters to Lithuania’s largest supermarket group Maxima.

The picture above is an artist’s impression of how the building might look once planning permission to convert it has been granted.
Spokesman Olar Lipof told us: “It has long been a goal to turn the West Street into a Little Lithuania and this may soon become a reality.”
At Worst Street we were told: “Not much goes on in these offices nowadays so it seemed daft not to realise a million-pound asset, bank the money and work from home.
“As for councillors ... who needs ‘em these days anyway?”

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Today's other news takes the form of  new attraction for the Market Place – one that ties in with the Mayflower 400 celebrations marking the Pilgrim Fathers’ departure to the New World from Plymouth ...
The arrival of a £450,000 giant statue outside the city’s Theatre Royal made national headlines when it became the UK's largest cast bronze sculpture ....

But there was also a closely guarded secret surrounding the event.
Mouldings from the lower half of the project are to be used to mark Boston’s new status as a centre for al fresco defecation ...

The sculpture is pictured being loaded into position and is expected to be finished and ready for its official unveiling soon.
It is thought that the image will be sufficiently graphic for people to get the idea without the need for ancillary sculptings – and given the giant scale, it has been given the working title Poofrilla ... a sort of a cross between Godzilla and you-know-what.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com

E– mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Our former blog is archived at: http://bostoneyelincolnshire.blogspot.com

We are on Twitter – visit @eye_boston

Worst Street – or

Waste Street? 

Last week’s Boston Eye reported concerns raised by Councillor Brian Rush about the decision by the ruling officer clique at Worst Street no longer to record what is said at meetings.

The Bostonian Independent Group member called the decision “a very large slap down for democracy which seems to have been done, without reason, explanation nor warning.”

***

A reason did subsequently emerge when the story found its way into our local ‘newspapers.’

A Worst Street spokesman reportedly said: the decision was due to operational and resource issues and would be reviewed in a year’s time to see if there had been any negative outcomes as a result.

The spokesman added that whilst the council does not have a legal duty to record public and elected members may do so if they wish and so “are not prejudiced in any way.”

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Operational and resource issues … Presumably this means the cost of someone simultaneously to depress the ‘play’ and ‘record’ button at the start of a meeting, and the ‘stop’ button at the end of it.

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Boston’s retreat to the dark ages runs counter to the efforts by other councils to be as open and transparent as possible – something that Worst Street claims to be but isn’t.

Councils across the county record meetings and some such as East Lindsey make the audio available afterwards – whilst even more enlightened South Holland and West Lindsey webcast selected meetings so that residents can watch them without the need to attend.

Lincolnshire County Council streams of its full council meetings live and leaves a copy on its website for future viewing.

***

To make matters worse this decision to wind the clock back has resulted in a quite considerable waste of money.

It was only in February last year that more than £26,000 was taken from the council's capital reserves to invest in a shed-load of top of the range equipment to record meetings.

Ironically, these extensive… and expensive … purchases were made under the headline IT Investment Programme – even though it seems that they are now destined for the store cupboard whilst barely out of guarantee.

Someone needs to tell us why, early last year it was thought necessary to invest in more IT equipment, when a twelvemonth later someone else has decided that it wasn’t worth the candle.

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In common with most public authorities, Worst Street subscribes to the Seven Principles of Public Life – drawn up 25 years ago by government committee on Standards in Public Life chaired by Lord Nolan, and tasked with making recommendations to improve standards of behaviour in public life.

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They are summarised thus: 

Selflessness – Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other benefits for themselves, their family or their friends.

Integrity – Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties.

Objectivity – In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit.

Accountability – Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office.

Openness – Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands.

Honesty – Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest.

Leadership – Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example.

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There guidelines apply to all in the public service – officers and councillors alike – and regular readers will quickly realise how badly this sensible advice has been ignored of late.

***

In fact, we wonder whether it is by accident or design that if one searches the internet for information on Nolan, the link below …

Results in the following information …

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But it hasn’t always been like drawing teeth to get information from Boston Borough Council.

Interestingly, during the war years, the authority created an information committee (pictured above in the  British Council documentary Country Town filmed in Boston in 1943) which held regular public forums so that all manner of questions could be asked and answered.

More recently, Worst Street ran a series of ‘regular’ Ask the Cabinet sessions – again for taxpayers to try to seek information.

But like much of the hot air that billows out of Worst Street, it quickly ran out of steam.

Whilst time is made available for public questions at committee meetings – the meetings themselves are not publicised … even though there are ample outlets for this.

No – it seems that Boston Borough prefers operating in the shadows as much as possible – and keeping voters in the dark as well.

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Moving on … and we were e-mailed by council Jefe Michael Cooper after our comments that monies from the £1million-plus Controlling Migration Fund saw huge sums spent to tart up the Moulder Leisure Centre and contribute to an already well-heeled project at Boston Stump.

He told us: “This fund was set up by the Government and all of the projects had to be fully costed and evidenced. The bid was then put to the government department dealing with it. Many organisations were eligible and did bid in to the fund from community groups to the stump and many more.

“Those that were successful have been and are still drawing down the monies from the fund. We as Boston Borough Council were lucky enough to receive the cash to be able to improve the GMLC and some other smaller projects.

“There have been a lot of miss conception (sic) around this fund but as you can see the money can only be spent on what is was bid and allocated for nothing else.

“The parameters for eligibility were quite rigid and as such only projects deemed to be within the remit of the original concept went forward and were funded.

“Boston Borough Council as the local government body was used as the local payment conduit only and not as a funding administrator.”

***

Why this wasn’t made clearer at the time is anyone’s guess – but we would be most interested to know how many members of our European incomers have seized the opportunity to sign up with the Moulder gym as a result of its £95,000 refit.

***

A snapshot of the historic moment when Boston and South Holland district councils officially adopted the South East Lincolnshire Local Plan  has been appearing here there and everywhere.

Committee members on one side of the screened area and voters  graciously allowed to peer in.

No sense of ‘them and us’ there, eh?

***

Last week we brought you the first half of an account of the most recent  Boston Town Area Committee-hee – BTAC-ky – meeting.

Gird your loins for more – some of which we doubt will appear in the minutes – hence the need for a proper record of events.

When the committee discussed application under the BTAC grant Scheme, we are told: “Boston Stump had applied for rather a large sum of money – £20,000 to be precise, with  the largest item being £15,000 for a schools’ festival.

“This item caused concern with a majority of those present as the report contained very little detail.

“The matter was discussed at length and it was proposed that the two smaller amounts be approved, and further information requested for the Schools Festival.

“At this point one councillor, a well-known churchgoer, spoke out in favour of giving the grant, speaking of how The Stump is a vital part of the community and generally how wonderful it is.

“And speaking as if they were part of the application, made the following statement ‘perhaps we would accept a lower amount, say £5,000.’

“Having spoken to others present they are also under the impression the statement was made as if they were part of the application.

“Then another regular in the Stump congregation spoke out in favour, quite passionately saying the full amount should be granted – at one point even saying ‘we have plenty of money, let’s just give it to them.’

“Remarkably neither of the two that spoke out mentioned their regular attendance at the stump or declared an interest.

“Much to the annoyance of the two supporters it was passed that the Stump would receive £5,000 and further information would be requested.”

***

BTAC-hee-hee gives away small grants as well as considering these eye-watering attacks on our council tax.

Sensibly, the committee has cancelled the 4^th round of the 2018/19 small grant applications  and the applicants must now reapply after the May elections.

Surely, the same thing should be done with this £20,000 bid?

***

Further misconceptions about BTAC-ky and its money appear in a website piece published by Lincolnshire Live – the online version of the Lincolnshire Echo and Boston off-Target.

In a piece headlined ‘Why do so many people use Boston's streets as a TOILET?’ and subtitled ‘this article contains some images that people may find disgusting’ the report tells us: “Boston does have a significant issue with people going to the toilet in public places.”

***

The account – liberally illustrated with photos of people pissing against walls and of turds dumped in the street (if you’ll forgive the pun) will doubtless do little for Boston’s flagging image … and we are sure that the website feels justifiably proud that the bold decision to include vile photographs will make matters even worse.

Naïvely, the report suggests that public toilet opening hours may be at the root of the problem.

It says that the public conveniences in the Cattle Market, Central Park and Lincoln Lane all shut at 6pm on Monday to Saturday and 4pm on a Sunday – and that those in Oldrids, and Boston Stump also close fairly early whilst ASDA “some distance from the town centre” shuts at 7-30pm.

“So if anyone is caught short after the loos close, this perhaps increases the possibility of people going to the loo in the street,” the report suggests.

Believe that and you’ll believe anything.

***

The report goes on to quote Boston BiG leader Councillor Barrie Pierpoint as saying that the authorities could do more to tackle the issue.

“The County Council has let us down and so has the Boston Borough Council, most of all the police.

“I’m sick and tired of hearing about budget cuts - we need to tackle this issue.

“It’s a disgrace. How can we advertise our town as a desirable location when we have people drinking and doing this in the street?”

***

Despite this, the report says that Councillor Pierpoint believes having more representatives of official organisations on the streets is one method that might help to reduce the problem - and that the funding is there.

“The Boston Town Area Committee has a pot of £600,000 and you’re telling me that we can't invest that into our town centre to get it back to a good standard?" he said. 

“We need someone monitoring these areas where people are defecating or street drinking, we know full well where they are, and we need to react instead of brushing it under the carpet.” Ooh er missus.

“I think the Boston Rangers would be a valuable addition to our streets, surely we can use some of the BTAC pot to actually make a difference to our town.”

***

Boston has of course played the Rangers game before – during the lamentable days of the town’s Business ‘Improvement’ District between 2008 and 2013.

Three Rangers cost £300,000 over the five years of the BID –  £20,000 apiece.

Whilst some small success was claimed from their presence, they were also well-known for mooching around places such as Pescod Square for a natter with their security staff.

***

The other thing is that is worth mentioning is that BTAC-ky’s ‘pot’ refers to its annual budget – which has already been spoken for.

To reshuffle the figures allocate £60,000 a year – that’s 10% of the budget – to an anti-poo squad would achieve nothing other than to pursue BTAC-ky’s policy of throwing taxpayers’ money around without anything much by way of thought.

***

Finally, we’re often critical about the slapdash  way that out so-called local ‘newspapers’ are produced these days – and if you think that we exaggerate, here’s a recent example.

When the Boston sub-Standard reported on the £1.8 million grant scheme to improve part of the historic town centre, the WorstWeb account was simply copied on to the newspaper page – but under a staff reporter by-line.

The only difference?

Just one of the four photos provided was reproduced – and captioned … probably by a sub editor located in the Shetland Islands – Dolphin STREET.

So much for centuries of history. 

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com

E– mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.

Our former blog is archived at: http://bostoneyelincolnshire.blogspot.com

We are on Twitter – visit @eye_boston

Election fever in Boston seems to be little more than a sniffle so far – although at least some taxpayers turned up to a recent meeting to learn more about standing for office.

The seventeen pitched up at an “informative meeting” at Worst Street at which their enthusiasm was tested by the “premiere” of a 15-minute “unique film, prepared in-house at Boston Borough Council.”

Its woolly, acoustically poor narration was read in a way that made eating sand seem infinitely preferably to standing for civic office. 

But at least a timetable has now emerged for the run up to voting on Thursday 2^nd May – which we’ve reduced to the interesting bits for voters and ditched the more technical waffle.

Delivery of nomination papers is between Monday 25^th March and 4pm on Wednesday 3^rd April with a list of  nominees published  by 4pm the next day – which is when we will get our first full glimpse of who’s seeking to represent us.

***

A writer in one of our local ‘newspapers’ recently recalled that donkeys’ years ago  the list of nominees was also that of the great and the good of the borough – the people whose love of Boston and desire to work for its betterment shone like a beacon.

Sadly these days, we wonder why some of our current councillors bothered to seek election in the first place … but are sure that won’t stop quite a few from seeking a return to office.

***

Whatever the outcome of the elections – when the council resumes work after 2^nd May it will by all accounts be under slacker rules as far as reliable reports of events are concerned.

Concerned Councillor Brian Rush has been in touch to tell us that Boston Borough Council in the shape of the officer cadre has, without warning, withdrawn recording facilities at all future meetings ...  something he describes as “a very large slap down for democracy which seems to have been done, without reason, explanation nor warning.”

He continued: “I am not in the least bit surprised by this; it is a prime example of what happens, when councillors get used to having their feet too far under the cabinet table.

“This is only one example, of elected members casually passing over too much control to paid officers!

“And I am told there is yet more to come...

“I am absolutely astounded by what seems to be a "unilateral" decision made it would appear by the Corporate Management Team.

“In case anyone is unaware this is yet another internal “quango” – a small, exclusive, panel of senior officers, who I have been told are considered to be a law unto themselves.”
More on this next week – as not only is it a slap in the face for voters, it turns out to be  a scandalous waste of money as well

***

After a week away it seems that little has changed.

More jobs are under threat – firstly Tulip Ltd has been unsuccessful with a major tender … ironically it exists solely to operate a Marks & Spencer contract, and their store in town is also closing soon. The lost contract affects 464 jobs.

And another food manufacturer that employs about 680 people is set to close a site in Holbeach St Marks – although it’s hoped that as many as 520 employees could be offered roles at other sites in the county.

***

Incidents such as these make brief headlines then get forgotten – but Boston seems to have been victim of a lot of job losses lately.

One apparent reaction to this is the news that the Assembly Rooms nightclub has closed – allegedly temporarily – with the owner reportedly blaming increases in violent crime and loss of employment.

Matt Clark was quoted as saying: “It is no secret that the town as a whole, and certainly the late night economy, has been in decline, making the last year extremely challenging.

“There is a clearly advertised increase in violent crime and, of recent months, loss of employment, which are bound to have impacted footfall to the town.”

***

Yet despite this employment fall-off, more and more people are moving to the borough and applying for National Insurance numbers.

The most recent figures from the Lincolnshire Research Observatory show that between 2,300 and 2,700 registrations for a NI number we processed last year as a result of inward migration to Boston.

Then – and for the past ten years at least – Boston has always been the bluest spot on the statistical map – with a minimum of around 18,000 registrations between 2010 and 2017.

The pressure that this must place on local services is unimaginable.

***

The matter of the Assembly Rooms arose at the full council meeting in a question from a councillor expressing concern at the apparent deterioration of the Grade II listed building.

How short the political memory is.

The building was sold in 2012 after successive Worst Street administrations deliberately avoided maintaining it for decades until finally putting it on the market after lamenting that it was then too expensive to repair.

At no point did Worst Street consider issuing itself with an enforcement notice to make the damage good. Well, it wouldn’t, would it?

So this piece of piety is even beyond irony.

***

Interestingly the question about the building – and a number of others from other councillors and the public appeared on the agenda of the full council meeting.

But there was no such luck on WorstWeb – the council's website –which could eassily have been updated to inform members of the public what was coming up on the night.

As we have said so often before, the rules demand that questions be submitted well in advance and making them available on the website was once done without any trouble.

Now though, it is just another example of Worst Street’s indifference to the public – along with the apparent decision not to record meetings ... anything that makes an officer's workload lighter!

***

The full council meeting followed last month’s BTAC-ky meeting – which by all accounts  played more like a farce at Blackfriars than a piece of taut political drama.

As is nearly always the case, neither of our local ‘newspapers’ attended – nor did they bother with the full council either.

***

But luckily for Boston Eye we were still able to obtain the details, which we will share with you over the next couple of editions.

***

In the long-standing Worst Street tradition of not bothering with appearances or thinking ahead, the meeting almost never happened.

In the general mutterings ahead of the 6-30pm start time a discussion began as to whether the meeting could go ahead as it appeared it was not going to be quorate.

But thankfully (!) at 6-31pm in tottered one councillor followed a minute later by another, meaning that the meeting could go ahead.

And as a bonus just as the preliminaries ended, another councillor arrived making his apologies and explaining his lateness was due to running an errand for his wife.

***

An early item on the agenda  concerned traffic speed monitoring and was listed as an update – which it has been claimed means it doesn’t require an advance document that can be digested days ahead of the meeting … even  though that was contradicted by other items on the same agenda that included helpful reports.

The officer who was due to update the committee arrived just bfore the meeting began and headed for the piece of equipment to be used for his update.

After a couple of minutes it was obvious something was wrong, and after a frantic search he announced the mouse was missing and so he would not be able do his update as planned.

Five minutes later he returned with half a dozen pages of A4 paper which he passed around the table.

***

The BTAC-ky meeting before this one featured complaints by members about the speed – or rather the lack of it – that officers ‘worked.’

Clearly, no lessons have been learned since then..

***

Next week: More from the meeting – including the context of the line from one member:  "we have plenty of money; let’s just give it to them"

***

Meanwhile, we’d like to think that some good news is on the horizon – with the government announcement of a £1.6 billion fund to boost growth and give communities a greater say in their future after Brexit – also known as the Brexit Bribe … depending on your political viewpoint.

According to Whitehall: “The Stronger Towns Fund will be targeted at places that have not shared in the proceeds of growth in the same way as more prosperous parts of the country.

“It will be used to create new jobs, help train local people and boost economic activity – with communities having a say on how the money is spent.”

The East Midlands is due for an allocation of £110 million – and given the size of the area the amount is not an encouraging one.

Nonetheless the news has fired up local MP Matt Warman – who seems to think that a few quid might be coming our way.

Money coming our way, perhaps? What on earth could there be to worry about?

Well, as regular readers will know, Worst Street has a somewhat patchy record where free dosh is concerned.

Whilst the government can promise community input, Worst Street always prefers to keep its grubby mitts on the strings that tie the money bag.

Witness a government grant of many tens of thousands to mitigate the eyesore of empty shops. Frittered away with no result and lamely declared a “learning curve.”

Witness the council involvement with the Boston “Improvement” District – a money pit that achieved nothing in its five-year existence and which was emphatically voted out of existence by local businesses at the first opportunity.

Witness the £1million-plus Controlling Migration Fund with huge sums diverted to tart up the Moulder Leisure Centre and an already well-heeled project at Boston Stump.

Witness the Boston Big Local project – in which the council has a pie finger – steadily working its way through £1 million with ideas such as building a massive cat litter tray in Central Park once a year and calling it a beach.

***

Rest assured that – should Boston get to benefit from this Stronger Towns Fund – the first thing that Worst Street will do is appoint an officer to administer it … or failing that form a committee.

Fate forefend that it should seek to involve Boston Big Local as an “experienced” administrator of this sort of thing.

***

Still with money – and the business of Boston and its borrowings gets more and more confusing month by month.

Regular readers will recall that one of Worst Street’s more recent cunning plans was to borrow £20 million over a 50 year term to invest at a higher return than the cost of the interest.

We all thought that this would be done using the Public Works Loans Board – a statutory executive agency of HM Treasury whose job is to lend money local authorities, and collect the repayments.

Then – towards the end of last year – as well as investments in established property funds, we found that we had temporary borrowed £4 million from Edinburgh City Council and repaid £5,500 interest twenty seconds later.

***

Fast forward to January’s spending and Worst Street borrowed £3 million from Vale of Glamorgan and shortly after paid £4,100 interest.

A similar arrangement with the Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner’s office saw £1,800 repaid on a short-term loan of £1.5 million.

We’ve asked before, and we’ll ask again – what the hell is going on?

***

Short straw award of the week goes to Councillor Anton Dani, who has been named as the borough’s next mayor – although he has to be re-elected in May, first.

At least he probably has a better chance now that he is in his third political incarnation – having started as a Kipper, then a BiGger but is now a Conservative.

***

We sampled the controversial parking system at the Pilgrim last week – and went from encouraged to zero in as long as it took to check into the hospital reception.

Signs in the disabled parking areas say that it is only necessary to register a holder’s blue badge once for it to be logged so that thereafter a £1.90 all day parking fee will automatically be charged.

No so, we were told.

Apparently, whilst they do this in Lincoln – the scheme has not been extended to Boston … and despite the inaccurate signs there is no suggest of whether it will be introduced or not.

***

Smile of the week comes courtesy of Lincolnshire County Council.

In the same breath as Clownty Hall announced spending £4.7m to ease rush-hour bottlenecks on two roundabouts on the A46 in Lincoln came news that  Woodville Road in Boston is to be “reconstructed …”

But it was the picture that made us laugh.

We know that Lincoln is stingy where Boston is concerned, but if that’s all the tarmac they’re using, don’t expect much of a result.

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