Boston Council leader releases Christmas message praising the good work of others

Coun Anne Dorrian writes: ​"Dear Boston residents, Thank you for a fantastic year for the town! As 2023 draws to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to say a very Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. I wish you all peace, health and happiness.

“Our town is a place of historical importance and enchanting beauty. Our residents are kind, proud and incredibly hard working. Our council is young and ambitious, and aims to ensure that we work in partnership to make Boston an even better place to live, work and visit. Quite simply, Boston’s brilliant!

“We think it’s time to talk Boston up! We know that the town has challenges - every town in the UK does too - but it’s important that we keep those in perspective. I promise you that we are working incredibly hard to address the issues which you’ve said are the most important to you; such as anti-social behaviour, fly tipping and the lack of events for local people. We’ve made a great start since taking office only seven months ago and your support has been incredible.

“At this festive time of year, I would like to honour the emergency services and all those who work to keep us safe and well. I know that many of you will be at work, whilst others are with their families. I am grateful for your dedication to your job. I’d like to pay tribute to our religious communities, who endeavour each year to warmly welcome everyone to their house of God, but especially the lonely, the bereaved and the homeless. I am grateful for your dedication to putting your faith into practice. I’d also like to recognise the invaluable work of our vast number of volunteers. Your tireless pursuits often go unsung but they are the glue which binds our community together. I am grateful that you are so willing to help make all our lives healthier and happier. Thank you, to all of you, for all that you do.

Here’s to an amazing 2024! I sincerely hope that next year brings you all that you wish for yourself and your families.”

Here are our highlights as we look back on in 2024:

· Boston Town Centre Strategy and Action Plan - We now have a town centre strategy and action plan in place – thanks to all our residents and businesses who had their say. The strategy is really important as it had so much input from residents and businesses who took the time to contribute to the consultation. At the heart of the strategy is installing pride back into our town, bringing all our diverse communities together, and doing what we can to ensure visitors have a fantastic retail and hospitality experience while here for work or pleasure. This essentially is our shared vision for our town and what we aim to achieve.

· Boston Christmas Festival - We brought the spirit of Christmas back to Boston with our brilliant four-day Christmas festival! Thousands of people packed into the town centre to be part of the festivities. The town received fantastic publicity. The switch-on was watched by more than 112,000 people on social media – that’s more people Wembley Stadium can hold! The event was a great boost for our town, our residents and all the businesses, which have also benefitted from free parking on Saturdays throughout December in the run up to Christmas. More events are planned for 2024 to help support our town centre.

· Increase penalty notice charges on fly-tippers - We know that fly-tipping in our borough is one of the things residents want us to crack down hard on. That is why we have backed a £600 rise in the fixed penalty charge for people fly-tipping – bringing the penalty to the maximum allowance of £1,000. This will come into force in the New Year and we will of course keep you all updated on the impact this is having on our borough as well as our regular enforcement updates.

· PSPO Extension - We have extended the Public Spaces Protection Order for another three years to restrict the drinking of alcohol in public areas of our town centre. This is to build on the good work we have seen with the decrease of anti-social drunken behaviour incidents in the areas where the order applies.

· Boston’s Brilliant Calendar 2025 - We are bringing back the Boston Borough Calendar! A fantastic opportunity for residents, keen photographers and artists to share their images of our brilliant borough for a chance to be featured in the 2025 calendar.

· Support given thanks to UK Shared Prosperity Fund – The funding the Council was awarded from Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is directly helping community groups and projects in the Borough thrive. Parish councils and Willoughby Road Allotments have been helped with GRASSroots funding thanks to a partnership with the Lincolnshire Community Foundation and businesses are also being helped with funding from Grants4Growth. All these funding streams are set to help even more in 2024.

· Boston’s Teenage Market - The talents of our young people have been celebrated with the popular Teenage Market which started in Boston this year. The market supports young people who are given a market stall to sell their crafts and products. When the markets are on there is always an added buzz to the atmosphere. Please do check out the Teenage Markets in 2024 and support these young entrepreneurs.

· Boston Town Deal update - Town Deal projects continue to progress in Boston with some in the last year being completed. Blenkin Memorial Hall has been transformed thanks to Boston Town Deal and it was a great honour to meet HRH The Princess Royal at St Botolph’s Church who came to see the competed works to St Botolph’s Library and the memorial hall. Town Deal projects will continue to progress next year include the improvements to Boston Railway Station, town centre regeneration and the Boston leisure project.

· Improved play equipment and more accessible changing facilities - Parks at Central Park, Woodville Road, St John’s and Garfit’s Lane have all seen their play areas improved thanks to £150,000 funding agreed by Boston Town Area Committee as well as contributions from Boston Big Local and The Hope Charity. The last year has also seen the first Changing Places public facilities open in Boston to ensure people with disabilities and their carers have access to suitable facilities they need when visiting the town. The parks also hosted a number of events, many of which were free, this summer, bringing families and friends together.

· Boston in Bloom were once again recognised for the amazing efforts volunteers make to beautify the town to benefit all who work, live or visit the town. It was another gold win for the town!

· The Local Authority Housing Fund has enabled the Council to buy eight homes to accommodate Ukrainian and Afghan families which will not only help these families but in time, will provide a new supply of properties to address local housing and homelessness pressures in the future.

· Internal Drainage Boards - The Council along with more than 20 other local authorities is lobbying the Government in asking for a fairer funding formula to support the important work of Internal Drainage Boards. The current formula is seeing all council tax increases go to the IDBs and not to council services. Work on addressing this so that residents get the services they deserve will continue in 2024.

· Council meetings – The new Council promised inclusivity, attentiveness and transparency, now all public meetings are streamed virtually on our council’s YouTube channel. We have also recently introduced in-person, informal, question time sessions once a month prior to our Cabinet meetings so please feel free to come along.