www.boston-bypass.org.uk

We apologise for recent delays in updating our web site information.

This is due to political issues in relation to the newly elected BBI, and clarification of Boston Borough Council issues. As a result, the BBPG has reluctantly disassociated itself from the BBI. The following columns state reasons for our action and conclusion.

We continue as an active pressure group for an effective by-pass for Boston on behalf of the residents of Boston and surrounding areas.

After a meeting of both the Executive and membership of the Boston Bypass Pressure Group it is with profound regret that the BBPG feels it has no alternative but to publicly dissociate itself from a BBI Council which we believe has reneged on the publicly stated policies upon which they received a mandate from the people.

The BBPG would like to reassure the public that this has not been an easy decision. We have campaigned tirelessly for three years to achieve a major road scheme for Boston; that campaign involved the election of Richard Austin on a BBPG ticket to the County Council and generated the formation of the BBI. We publicly supported and campaigned for the BBI during the May elections and felt inextricably linked to the party. Indeed 5 of our present and past members stood and were elected.

Most of our members joined the BBI party and 2 were elected onto the BBI executive. Because of this close association we are better placed than most to judge exactly what has gone wrong and wish to inform the public why we have made this decision.

There are three major issues which have brought about our decision and are directly related to the BBI stated policies and were in the campaign literature.

1. The Bypass would be the BBI’s number 1 priority.
   
   Despite repeated requests from Councillors and the BBI Executive, the Leadership refuse to create a Bypass portfolio and has ignored the expertise which was potentially available to them from the pressure groups. This was essential to ensure concentrated effort and to “keep ones eye on the ball”. This was an area of which the BBPG, including Richard Austin were very critical of the previous administration.
   
   
2. The BBI specifically stated that it would reject and stop the short term measures outlined in the Transport Strategy document, which included the widening of the A16 Spalding Road, Liquorpond street and the railway crossing. Instead it would support only short term improvements relating to traffic lights, road junctions and crossings. Any remaining funds to be used on working up the Bypass scheme.
   
   The BBI Leadership recently did a u- turn by publicly announcing that the short term measures including the road widening are being modelled by the LCC and  Boston Borough Council are giving every encouragement to the LCC to commence work early in 2008. A second broken promise.
   
   Obviously they have forgotten that in the LCC minutes of a meeting acquired by BBEG under the freedom of information act, the joint officers of the LCC and the Transport study team acknowledged that little or no difference to traffic flow would be achieved by widening these roads. Further more the Transport Strategy document clearly states that we could have both, they were not mutually exclusive.  So the BBI was aware of this long before the election.
   
   
3. The promise to the people of Boston that the BBI represented a new type of community politics, open, transparent and free from  party political interference.

Well sadly they fell at the first hurdle. At a meeting on June 25th between the Leader of LCC and the Leader and Deputy Leader of BBC, a deal, arrangement, whatever you want to call it, was struck. What was the deal? In exchange for a date, route and support for funding the BBI would not stand against any conservative candidates at the next County Council elections. The deal was proposed by the Leader of the LCC and agreed upon.

How do we know this?

 
After a months silence, the Leader of BBC at a meeting of the BBI executive encouraged them firstly to remove any reference to County Council elections from the BBI constitution and later informed the meeting of the above deal.

This was confirmed a few weeks later when 2 Councillors on two separate occasions challenged the Deputy Leader and were told exactly the same sequence of events.

1. Many people may argue that we need a Bypass at any price. Think about it a little deeper and you will see that the price is too high.
   
   
2. Firstly they reneged on the promise to the electorate of a new kind of politics, thereby bringing the integrity of the leadership, the Councillors, the executive and the party into question.
   
   
3. They proposed to deliberately disenfranchise (deprive of a vote) the people of Boston from having the opportunity to vote for a BBI candidate at the County Council elections.
   
   
4. They were preventing any aspiring BBI members or Councillors of the opportunity to stand in the County Council elections.
   
   
5. Given the litany of broken promises by the LCC we need as many County Councillors as possible elected and influencing  LCC decisions.

This had already been agreed by the LCC executive in January 2007.

This was illegal.

The Standards Board Code of Conduct forbids agreements which give any party a political advantage.

We believe therefore this is too high a price to pay.

All three of the aforementioned were policy decisions made by the Leadership of the Council with little or no reference or agreement from the BBI Councillors, BBI executive or the membership. Given that they are supposedly a party of Independents then the Leadership had no authority to make those decisions.

This is not a recent occurrance but has been ongoing within the party over the last few months. The BBPG has tried exhaustively through letters and debate within the executive to resolve these issues through its members within the party. However we, together with a number of brave Councillors have met firstly with denial and more recently with misleading spin and a refusal by the leadership to accept or acknowledge their mistake, which is we feel at the least naïve and certainly dishonourable.

Boston Bypass Pressure Group.
Boston Bypass Pressure Group. 

20th September 2007

Dear Richard,

Having read “Your traffic update “ article in Boston Matters and your letter in this weeks Boston Standard I am profoundly shocked and disappointed to note that the Borough is giving every encouragement to the county to start work on the short term solutions proposed by the recent Transport Study. i.e the road widening scheme.

I also note that little or no mention is made of progress concerning the Bypass.

Firstly I would like to remind you and all BBI Councillors of the promises made to the electorate, the platform on which the BBI stood at the elections.

You will remember that when this issue was discussed with the membership (including the prospective candidates) prior to the elections, it was agreed that the BBI would reject any road widening proposals and only support improvements to junctions and the phasing and simplification of the traffic light system.
This became our agreed policy.

The following is a direct quote from the BBI and was included in every candidate’s literature.

“For many years the other political parties have featured the need for a bypass in their manifestos as a top priority. Once elected however, they have failed to lobby effectively. It was only when the Bypass pressure movement became active two years ago that progress began. The result was the traffic survey and the recent panic offer of £10m for in-town ‘road improvements’.

The first job is to halt this seriously flawed proposal. It will be merely a cosmetic fix. It will create months, or even years of congestion and give little or no benefit. It will be a big waste of public money. It will also result in the Bypass being postponed indefinitely”.

More importantly the BBI promised the people of Boston a different type of community politics. Open and transparent, free from the intimidation and political interference of national and County party politics, previously experienced by this Borough.

So where are we now?

It would appear that Boston Borough Council are again dancing to the tune of our County Council, agreeing with all their proposals, striking deals and forgoing our electoral promises for fear of upsetting their leader.
In other words you are behaving no differently to the previous administration.

It would appear you have been sucked into the same trap.

The constitution of the Bypass Independents states that:-

“All Councillors shall remain independent of all national political parties and will be free to vote at their discretion. The exception to this will be in regard to Highways and Transport issues where elected Councillors must vote in accordance with the BBI’s declared policy”.

Given that to date the BBI’s agreed policy has been to reject the Transport studies road widening scheme, how have we arrived at a position where you have publicly announced a change to this policy?

I would like to ask each of our BBI Councillors whether they have ever had the opportunity to fully discuss, agree and vote on this change of policy?
Also whether there has been a full cabinet meeting to discuss, agree and vote on this issue?
It would appear they have not.
Certainly this issue has never been raised at the BBI Executive who represents the full membership of this party.

Who has made this decision?

Whatever the circumstances surrounding this announcement, those responsible have breached the trust of the full membership of the BBI and more importantly the electorate.

I hope you realize the seriousness of the position in which you and the BBI now finds itself. The party has been seriously undermined and compromised.
Whoever is responsible has shot this party in the foot by handing the opposition an enormous propaganda gift with which to beat us.

I have already received many phone calls angered and appalled by your announcement, questioning your judgement and expressing a lack of confidence in the leadership of the BBI Council.
I fully expect over the next few weeks the letters pages of the local press to be bristling with correspondence from the opposition and disillusioned voters.

I am sorry to be so blunt but I am afraid that is the reality.

The Boston Bypass Pressure Group have campaigned tirelessly for three years to achieve a major road scheme for Boston, that campaign involved your election to the County Council and generated the formation of the BBI. We publicly supported and campaigned for the BBI during the May elections and felt inextricably linked to the party.
The BBPG feels bitterly let down and betrayed by this announcement.
The BBPG are not in the business of misleading the electorate and we believe this still to be true of the majority our BBI Councillors
Yes we want a Bypass for Boston but not at any cost, not at the cost of our integrity or the denigration of our democratic system.

If there had been a change of view on this issue then there should have been a full and proper debate within the party. If agreed a major Public relations exercise should have been undertaken to sell this to the electorate.

None of this has occurred and we are left with this almighty mess. I am afraid we hold the dual Leadership responsible for this.

The BBPG will be considering its position regarding its public support for the BBI and I will let you know in due course its decision.

Yours sincerely,

Christine Basu.

9th October 2007

Dear Richard,

Following my letter to you on the 20th September (which to date I have received no acknowledgement), at a meeting of the BBPG and after a lengthy discussion, there was a unanimous vote by members present to write to you again asking the Leadership to revert to the policy to which the BBI was elected ie.

1) The Bypass would be the BBI’s number 1 priority.

2) The BBI would reject the short term measures outlined in the Transport Strategy document, including the widening of the A16 Spalding Road, Liquorpond Street and the railway crossing.

3) Support new short term improvements to include improvements to traffic lights, road junctions and crossings.

4) To use any remaining funding available on working up the Bypass scheme. ( this could be done outside of the LDF )

5) The promise to the people of Boston that the BBI represented a new type of Community politics, open and transparent and free from party political interference.

As a group we also feel very saddened and disappointed that the Leadership failed to create a portfolio specifically for the Bypass and have ignored the expertise which was potentially available to you from the Bypass pressure groups.

Regarding the “deal”,“ arrangement” “wheeler dealing” which took place between the Leadership of Boston Borough Council and the Leader of Lincolnshire County Council, the outcome , because of the BBI’s stated policy and your refusal to accept or acknowledge that this had happened was we feel at least naïve and certainly dishonourable.

Although we feel that many of the BBI Councillors are doing excellent work, if you feel you are unable to revert to the BBI’s original policy we as a group will have no option other than to publicly dissociate ourselves from the BBI and in particular it’s leadership. This letter will then be published.

The BBPG will continue to fight for a Bypass for Boston and its people and will challenge all agencies in the pursuit of our aims.

Yours sincerely,

Christine Basu,
On behalf of the BBPG

Christine, 

In view of the current difference in views that have arisen I feel that I must make some comment.

The BBI is the baby of the two pressure groups. It was, however, a disappointment that so few pressure group members volunteered themselves as candidates for election on 3rd May 2007.

I think we can now say that the baby has grown up and left home to serve all the people of the Borough on a wide range of issues.

Like parents in this position you still have an important role to play, but it is a different role.

With respect, we consider that your important and most effective role is to scrutinise what the BBI does in a democratic fashion. This is the best way to influence the policy of Boston Borough Council and the LCC. When this has been done your conclusions should then be communicated in a proper way.

In practice this means having formally constituted meetings with minutes, and when possible and appropriate, taking evidence from people with specialist knowledge. Any conclusions should then be reported in writing to the elected leader of the BBI. I am sure that most elected BBI members would be pleased to cooperate with this process as long as they are not asked to discuss confidential Council matters. 

I would advise against the less effective way of round robin emails, letters to the press and emotional outbursts at public meetings.

Yours sincerely,
Richard

15th October 2007

Dear Richard,

We are in receipt of your e-mail dated 14th October 2007.

After a meeting of the BBPG executive members on the 15th October 2007(which have been properly minuted) it is unclear to us whether your letter is a response to the correspondence sent to you by the BBPG or a personal letter to me, either way it is incredibly patronising and more importantly fails to address any of the issues raised in that letter.

However we would like to respond to your comments.

Firstly it is disingenuous of you to suggest that the BBPG was not well represented amongst the BBI candidates at the May elections. You know very well that five of the successful candidates are or were members of the BBPG. That is one fifth of the BBI Councillors and includes your self.

Regarding your analogy of baby and parent we would like to point out that when a wayward, arrogant teenager deserts the moral values with which they have been raised, it is the responsibility of the parents to do everything in their power to prevent them harming themselves or anyone else. If they won’t listen then they must face the consequences.

In other words if this baby has grown up to break the promises on which it received a mandate from the people, those of us who are largely responsible for that success have an obligation and every right to challenge such damaging behaviour.
I am sure the electorate will have something to say about this at the next election.

Maybe it would be honourable Richard for you to inform your Councillors of the true history of the links between the BBI and the BBPG and just why the BBI was so successful at the polls, or is there a different agenda going on here? That would explain many things!

We consider your comment that the BBPG conducts its affairs in an
democratic fashion is rather rich coming from a party that until recently recorded little or no minutes of its meetings, is still arguing about whether it has a constitution, ignores its own adopted protocol, ignores the views of its membership and consistently refuses to hold a democratic Leadership election.

As the BBPG complies in all these areas we would suggest that it is inappropriate for us to be lectured by those who still have to put there own house in order.

It is also inappropriate for you to advise us on taking evidence from those with specialist knowledge. If the BBI Leadership had had a detailed working knowledge (as we have) of the Transport Strategy document, its background data and associated decisions, you would never have entered into the illegal agreement with the Leader of LCC.

May I remind you Richard that it was a member of the BBPG who provided you with the information on the Transport Strategy and in fact wrote a large portion of your “call in” statement which was presented by you to the LCC in January.

I would suggest that in the area of Transport we are the experts and you would have been wise to use that resource.

It would appear you are exhibiting exactly the same traits as your predecessors, of whom you were previously so critical. Where are they now?

With reference to your statement regarding round robin e-mails etc. this would appear to be a motion to “gag” the membership and pressure groups. This sort of intimidation is not recognised in the “free world”. All Councillors have the right to be informed of the pressure groups views. After all we thought we were living in a democracy!

To repeat what was said in my previous letter to you, the Boston Bypass Pressure Group have campaigned tirelessly for three years to achieve a major road scheme for Boston, that campaign involved your election to the County Council and generated the formation of the BBI. We publicly supported and campaigned for the BBI during the May elections and felt inextricably linked to the party.

The BBPG feels bitterly let down and betrayed by the Leaders of the BBI.

We are not in the business of misleading the electorate and we believe this still to be true of the majority our BBI Councillors.

Yes we want a Bypass for Boston but not at any cost, not at the cost of our integrity or the denigration of our democratic system.

In conclusion it is obvious to us that you are totally unwilling to address any of the issues that we raised with you and are prepared to desert the principles on which your party stood. Sadly your party, the aspirations of the Bypass movement and the economy of this district will suffer the long term consequences. This is the BBI’s failure not ours, no one else is responsible for what has happened other than yourselves.

As a result, the decision of the BBPG is that it has no alternative but to publicly dissociate itself from a Council which has reneged on the publicly stated policies upon which they were elected.

Yours sincerely,

Christine Basu,
On behalf of the BBPG.

Due to the lack of updates on the BBEG site, it could appear that we have curtailed our fight to get a bypass for Boston in due of the turmoil taking place in the Boston Borough Council. Far from it.

Over the last few weeks we have been in continual discussion with various parties and can assure everyone that the interests of the citizens of Boston are to the forefront of our thoughts and we will continue to fight for the benefit of everyone in the Borough and the surrounding areas, including Skegness, to get this traffic issue settled.

We supported the BBI in many ways prior to the election and the effective way our site portrayed the various video clips and interviews gave the candidates a push towards their goal, irrespective of what they are now saying.

Together with the BBPG, we have been campaigning for some years, attending various Council meetings, committees, consultations, meetings with officers, Councillors, both from LCC and BBC and contacting M.P.’s etc.

The result was that in January of this year the Executive of LCC gave approval for work to be done on the line of the Bypass for Boston.

The Highways PDG committee of LCC was due to be given an update on the progress of the Distributor road (their word) on the 1st. October but this has been cancelled!

We are now amazed at the self destruction that Boston Borough Council is now putting themselves under and any “deal” or “agreement” that was done, which as we understand was to undertake not to put up candidates in the forthcoming County elections in 18 months time, in exchange for the line of a Bypass in three years, is totally unacceptable when the size of their mandate dictated entirely the reverse.. If this “deal” or “agreement” will stop candidates proposed for all Boston area seats, including Cllr. Austin’s, think again.
The Leader (please see our video clip), made the comment in his election speeches, about stopping the road widening, the election flyers indicated the same.

We now have a situation that our Council leaders are acting like a third
world country, throwing out the window the democratic process, in that once elected they throw away their manifesto and do entirely as they wish.

If this unhappy situation is not resolved and the Council brought back on track, the entire economic situation in the area will decline even further and the only winners will be the LCC.

We agree entirely with the stance of the BBPG and fully support them in the decision to withdraw support for the BBI.