Lincolnshire “GULAG”

Well I did wonder how long it would be before agency staff started getting the boot at Staples Farm in Wrangle.

A little bit of history for those who do not know,

Late last year Staples applied for planning permission to site 21 caravans for occupation by seasonal workers along with ancillary welfare facilities, including 2 shipping containers, a landscaped earth mound and recreation ground

They also applied for RETROSPECTIVE planning permission for the 19 that they already had and were using!

In total, 40 caravans each housing up to 6 persons have been allowed to be placed at Staples Farm where they can keep workers on site, in other words a "Gulag"!

Despite the enviroment agency objecting thus giving the planning committee an opportunity to refuse it, they didnt .It was approved and permission granted, with only one vote against!

This new gulag will house up to 246 “workers” from outside the EU under a scheme called SAWS (Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme). This scheme permits workers to come here for up to six months but they have to be “housed” by the employer.

These “inmates” are not permitted to bring vehicles on site and the employers have kindly provided bicycles for the “inmates” use.

Even more generous is the provision of three 8 seater minibuses which will, ”transport workers to obtain daily essentials and occasionally for days out to Lincoln etc.”

A quick calculation means that these minibuses will need to make 33 trips daily just to “obtain daily essentials” Hmmmm And the trips to Lincoln will need to load up 8 people 10 times each, and make the round trip to Lincoln. Well that’s pretty impressive, when are the “inmates” going to fit in time to work one may wonder??

The above illustrates just how ridiculous the whole scheme is.

But why do Staples or anyone for that matter feel the need to create this "gulag"?

Surely with all the migrant workers this town has, there is no need to bring in more foreign nations from outside the EU, and what about the growing number of indigenous nationals who can’t find work, traditionally they were the pool of labour that farmers used to use. These days, for them, even agency work is scarce.


Staples justification for this grand creation is as follows:

In order to maintain a skilled and reliable workforce the applicants have decided to reduce its dependency on agency staff and instead labour will be sourced the Governments SAWS scheme.

The applicants (Staples), considers that the use of gang labour has the following disadvantages:

It is not possible to ensure the correct skill level and maintain continuity of staff or willingness to work (hang on didn’t someone say that about the Brits?)

Cost of paying for poor quality labour is not viable ( now we are getting warmer as to the reason)

Gang labour does not provide a flexible or instantly accessible workforce. ( strange I thought that was the very reason for dropping the use of local labour in favour of agency labour)


So there you have the History, and now back to real time

I am hearing that around 70 agency staff have been laid off from Staples in the last 2 weeks.

As I am sure many will be aware these are quite probably foreign nationals ( as indeed most employees of these agencies are these days) and they will most probably end up joining the indigenous population, who cant find work, in claiming jobseekers allowance.

I did warn of this in a letter to the Standard in December last year,
I said “ This years cheap migrant worker will become next years benefit claimant” The bit the Standard did not print was “when some other impoverished nation joins the E.U. ( and its highly likely that the current entry restrictions will be lifted on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals ) and under cuts the current workforce’s wage.

Well all I can say is TOLD YOU SO!

This is Britain

A quick post tonight directing readers to the youtube video on the right.

Well worth viewing and a timely reminder that the softly softly approach and politically correct inaction leaves us very vulnerable indeed.

compare the meerkat anyone!

Well not quite!

I popped along to the community showcase event in central park on Sunday and was truly delighted to see the two meerkats on display, frisky little devils they were too.

I like many of the towns folk really missed not having Party in the Park this year so I ventured out on what was quite a chilly day to see what all the fuss was about.

Despite the complete contrast in the weather from Saturday there seemed to be a good turnout for what has turned into something of an annual event.

As I perused along the various stalls and displays, it was quite humbling to see the dedication many of the volunteers give to their respective causes.

The event in itself seemed to me to be a real attempt by like minded people to pull together and display a kinship and friendship that we in Britain do so well, a little bit like the old Silver jubilee street party days. (for those that remember them!)

Now then with all the of that warm and cuddly stuff out of the way, lets have a reality check shall we!

Community showcase does not compare remotely with the crowds that PiP brings to central park, the displays of local talent from schools and colleges far out way watching people's pet dog attempt an obstacle course.

The introduction of the parade through town to central park, has added a new dimension to the event (and should now open the door for our Scouts, Cubs, Guides and Brownies to, once again, parade thought the town on St Georges day with the excuse that "health and safety "prevents it, now resolved)!

However, all in all, pound for pound ,Party in the Park made for a blinking good weekend and provided a chance for everyone to get together, have a few beers and chill out, and goodness knows in these troubled economic times we could have done with it!

The PiP event of course also provides an opportunity for all the community to be " Cohesive" and come together, therefore I was quite surprised when funding was not forthcoming despite the granting to Boston of some £660,000 to use on "Community Cohesion".

Even the "Community Cohesion Delivery Group" had acknowledged that PiP and community showcase were positive moves that assist with Community Cohesion.

I challenged this earlier in the year and was told it had all been spent and or otherwise allocated.
I therefore asked to see who and where this had been spent and have got that information finally.
Despite the popularity of the event many fellow councillors were quite happy to see it's demise, and as such were disinterested in its continuance and effectively condemned it. (watch out the fair could be next!)

How and where this money has gone will be the subject of later posts, but around £10000. was set aside for last weekends event for starters!

And this needs to be remembered.

Since my time at West Street I have witnessed a number of consultations, you know the kind of thing, were you get asked a question and the only answer you can give is the one "they" want.

Some may remember a few years ago ( pre Boston Bypass Independents regime ) being asked what does "Boston borough council do well" and some may well remember the answer, you guessed it, it was Party in the Park !

Therefore in traditional kamikaze style it gets binned! nice one!

This is where comparing Meerkat's and Market's end

Party in the Park (love or hate it) and Community Showcase are two events that are just not Comparable, no matter how hard the well wisher's try to make it so!

What Direction Now?

Now the dust has settled, and the last piece of soiled toilet tissue has been picked up, Its time to reflect on the very successful swoop by council staff, officers and other agencies at Witham Country Park last week, and to plan for the future.

Firstly I must commend the staff that set about the task of clearing up the disgusting mess that the illegal campers left behind, as they got on with the task in hand without complaint and really did demonstrate what a credit they are to our Town.

Having been present during the main campsite clearance, it really beggars belief how anyone can choose to live in such conditions.

Anyway, back to last Friday and a meeting where most of those involved in the operation, came together to discuss the outcome.

As it turned out 10 people ended up actually arriving at West Street, where with the assistance of interpreters, appointments with the DWP (Dept. of Work and Pensions) were arranged to try and help them to help themselves, so to speak. The down side being that the DWP scheduled these over a two week period and in all probability the interviewees will not bother to attend anyway.

The process of arranging this took two days, with staff at West street working incredibly hard to help these people, and the cost continuing to escalate, estimated in the region of £5000

The complete apathy and unwillingness of these people to engage with society comes as no surprise as they seem more than happy living the lifestyle they do.
All were known to police or had a criminal record and they seem to be content with a choice of life that involves shop lifting, drug taking, excessive drinking, scavenging in the bins behind KFC and Gregg’s, and being a general nuisance.

Rather than being victims of the current economic climate, they have made a lifestyle choice that most of these individual’s have lived for many years.

However, the task that was presented to Boston Council was one of protecting public safety and the action required was action that could not and should not be avoided.

The “kind soul” who arranged for these vagrants gain access to the process of assistance, is from the rough sleeping unit and is part of the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG).

Fortunately her involvement brings with her the good news that the borough will get £10000 of funding to help with the situation.

Well, of that, I am truly glad, but let’s not forget that the £10000, whilst not coming directly from the local Council tax payer, is none the less still coming from all of us, The Taxpayer.

Looking to the future, there is hope that full Council will pass the new byelaw that is needed to help in dealing with this problem, however as with many things that come before elected members in Council Chamber, whether it will be passed, is by no means a guarantee, it will however get my complete support.

I shall keep readers up to date with progress on this and many of the issues that are currently facing our town……Watch this space…

If you go down to the woods today!

Well I did, and I saw our hard working council staff clearing one of "several" sites on Witham Country Park.
Its truly shocking to see the state of the place as I am sure you will agree when you see the photos I took this morning of just one of the sites.

By the time I left around 12 individuals have be rounded up and their identities checked, (2 of these people were on bail! (bailed to where I ask), and they were merrily whisked off to West Street by some kind soul who was seeing to it that they can claim job seekers allowance , be found accommodation and of course given housing benefit to boot.

Alarmingly all of those picked up in today's operation were foreign nationals , some of who had been here for 3 or 4 years!!

Now, I am sure many people may say "send 'em home" " & chuck 'em out" etc. but what needs to be remembered is that this is their home if that's what they choose, as they are quite legitimately here under the E.U. rules that grants freedom of movement within members states.
So there you have it, we are no doubt going to be chasing illegal campers from one site to another until such time as the borough get some teeth, and central Government regain control of our borders.

I suggest you view these pictures before you eat your tea, you wouldn't want to waste good food now would you!

















CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

hi di hi Campers!

By the time you read this Blog, Staff and Officers from Boston Borough Council will be well and truly up to their ankles in it! Quite literally.
For in the early hours of this morning they, with the protection of Lincolnshire Police, supported by UK Border agency, will be clearing one of the many blots on Boston’s landscape.
Our council staff and other agencies will removing the human excrement, rubbish, empty vodka bottles and used needles from the illegal tent city that has blighted Witham County Park for several months.

At last I hear you cry, (well you would if you knew about it!)

Finally some action you may say! And about time,
But don’t get too excited, don’t get carried away now.

For under the current system, these “campers” don’t have to go anywhere, they can stay exactly where they are and we as a council can do nothing about it!

Just to enlighten readers, these “campers” are not your every day run of the mill kind of camper. NO NO.
These campers are quite different.

They come with all these added benefits!

There is considerable unacceptable anti-social behaviour.

Aside from the above mentioned human waste and used drug paraphernalia
There is broken glass and vast amounts of rubbish.

Council staff have previously removed tents and cleared the site of rubbish but can no longer do so due to the threatening and aggressive behaviour of these “happy campers”

Goods stolen from the towns retailers is sold on to fund the drink and drug binges that take place on site.

Over £2000 of damage has been caused to council property so far.

Members of the public feel intimidated and threatened and there is a feeling they could be mugged and/or attacked.

Clearly local residents are outraged and the fire service has attended many camp fires that have got out of control.

But get this, and it probably comes as no surprise, these people, 4 Bostonains and 12 foreign nationals, ( at present), are not actively seeking work, are not interested in permanent accommodation and it would appear most do not want to integrate with the community. The foreign nationals amongst them appear to be here legally, they however, despite meeting with the Polish Consul, do not want to go home!

Now then, to me, these are some pretty damn good reasons for Councillors to do all they can working with Officers and other agencies to put an end to this constant drain on resources and threat to public health and safety.

So what now? What’s the plan?

Councillor’s will shortly be asked to approve a bylaw which will give the council the teeth it needs to take action and remove these people from council property and have the power of arrest to enforce it.

As usual herein lays the problem,

In this cotton wool culture of the nanny state we do have amongst us Councillors who feel so sorry for the plight of these “lost souls” and do not wish to see a bylaw brought in that would remove them, until they have been provided with “some sort of site for them to stay”

Well with all due respect I don’t want “some sort of site” anywhere near me and I am sure that the overwhelming majority of Boston’s population don’t either!

Perhaps if our Prison’s were not so overcrowded we could find them some accommodation there, and “dock” the rent out of their benefits!

Alternatively, those bleeding heart do gooder’s could always let them camp in their garden.

As neither of the above are going to happen, the only possible option is bring in the bylaw, enforce it and send a very clear message to those who wish to flout the law that we as a Borough will not tolerate it!



What do you think?

Anyone for a spot of camping?
On a serious note


I would like to thank the Council staff and those from outside agengies in the task they are undertaking, i am sure everyone would agree, it ain't a job they would want to do, so well done to you all.

Welcome to Burnley.oops sorry I meant Boston!

I attended my first meeting of the cynically named “Community Cohesion Delivery Group” and was entertained by Mr Mike Waite, Head of Community Engagement & Cohesion on Burnley Borough Council.

Burnley, many may remember was one of several Northern towns struck with race riots a few years back, some of which carried on for days.

Mike talked through his presentation entitled “Good Relations Work” which shows what Burnley have done since 2001, the year the town fell apart.

The project explores the issues, responding to those issues, the stages of the “programme”, format and feel etc…etc and brings us up to the current situation.

Herein lays the PROBLEM!

This “Programme” seems to me to be all talk and not a lot of anything else.

Several things concern me, there will be workshops within the programme that are subject to “Chatham House Rules” where there is no agenda but more alarmingly NO MINUTES. These talking shops are free to do what ever they want without scrutiny

There is no true measure that proves that all the input (4 years work) and all the costs (unknown, but no doubt substantial) have actually made a single bit of a difference.

All in all it’s just another scheme that hoovers up tax payers money by the bucket full and has no measurable outcome.

The communities in Bradford still live parallel lives with clearly defined but un marked territories, local taxi drivers still play the race card when Burnley Council try to impose the licensing policy.

And division and segregation is still very much the street scene

So far the resurrection of rioting has been averted (other than Asian youths in Birmingham last weekend and Luton the weekend before)

But the best bit is this… They are looking to come and help Boston using the same model.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are huge issues surrounding Community Cohesion in Boston, however I am not of the opinion that this approach would work for Boston.

There are a few differences between Burnley and Boston.
Burnley has a growing Muslim community that have polarised themselves in certain parts of the town, bringing with them their mosques and madras’s and their own way of doing things.
This community have sunk very, very deep roots in the town and have for want of a better word “colonised” some parts of the town.
The community is extremely able via its plethora of community leaders and other mouth pieces to demand what they want , and demographically can influence the local politics with sheer wait of numbers.

Boston is more fortunate not to be that far down that road.

The “guest” community that have descended on Boston, in their droves, are transient and rapidly changing. To get “buy in” and assimilation from this section of the community needs a very different approach. By the very nature of transient people they are more likely not to comply to our local or even national law, e.g. drinking and driving, refuse disposal and use of public places as urinals.
.
Appeasement is not the answer and its continued use, will lead to Boston becoming a dirtier and more deprived place.

Incidentally, I don’t think we need lessons from Burnley, thanks all the same.

It needs a tough non nonsense, zero tolerance approach


I don’t think that would take 4 years to deliver results do you?

The first meeting I shall be attending of the CCDG is on Monday 7th Sept., regrettably it does not appear to be a terribly exciting affair and the agenda seems pretty thin on substance, but we shall see. I will report back following the meeting with any particularly informative bits and pieces.

More interestingly, the meeting in June had representatives from a group called NACRO, and from my investigations I find that:
“Nacro's vision is a safer society where everyone belongs, human rights are respected and preventing crime means tackling social exclusion and re-integrating those who offend.”

A very noble cause indeed if it works!

I am however some what surprised that NACRO have submitted a bid through the health and well-being fund ?? to deliver sport and education to the migrant community.

Now I am not suggesting that all crime is committed by our migrant community guests, but the direction of tax payer’s money into one section of the community over and above another is, in my book wrong.

Do NACRO see thing's differently?

I am struggling to see how their vision ties in with the real issues that our community face and how dealing with the migrant community as a special case helps matters.

I am pleased that it was recognised by the Community Cohesion delivery group that “whilst supporting the principles of the project, concern was expressed that too much emphasis is being put on it being available for the migrant community and this in itself may increase the void between the indigenous communities.”

Now I ask you, do you really think this group would be “concerned” if there was not a BNP councillor within the council?

I leave that for you to think about.