Plans by Hadleigh town council to pay Alicja Barnes an extra £20 to carry out council duties, even after she leaves the local authority at the end of this month.

An agenda item ahead of the Hadleigh Town Council's monthly planning meeting on February wants councillors to pass a motion to pay Ms Barnes £20 an hour for her to continue working on the Neighbourhood Plan.

This is in addition to the £35 an hour as the sole owner of 12 Magpies Accountancy to work up to six hours per week a plus additional costs including banking, reporting and audit preparation work for as long as required.

That amounts to more than £200 a week paid for by Hadleigh taxpayers in addition to staff costs.

Alicja barnes and Wendy Brame in collusion (Picture: Nub News)

Ms Barnes gave notice to quit her £30,000 a year plus job as the projects officer and responsible finance officer (RFO) on January 31 and officially leaves on February 29.

She will immediately start her new roles as an interim consultant back at Hadleigh council on March 1.

The Neighbourhood Plan is being amended and the Statement of Basic Conditions finalised, ahead of full council approval to submit to Babergh District Council as the local planning authority in March 2024.

There are no background papers with the planning meeting agenda and the town council has failed to respond to requests from Nub News for further information.

We asked on behalf of Hadleigh residents how many hours it was anticipated Ms Barnes will work on the Neighbourhood Plan, that has already been nearly 10 years in the making.

The mayor Gordon McLeod, deputy mayor Bill Wilson and clerk Wendy Brame were also asked how long Ms Barnes would be carrying out this role.

We also asked if the projects officer role was going to be advertised and a new person appointed?

All of the above failed to respond, once again leaving Hadleigh residents in the dark with their lack of openness and transparency.

Mayor Gordon McLeod refused to answer (Picture: subsmitted)

Hadleigh council lost is General Power of Competency certificate last May as the clerk Wendy Brame is not CiLCA qualified and it failed to elect enough councillors so had to co-opt others.

There have been concerns at the number of councillors not attending meetings, including former mayor Frank Minns who has not been seen at the council since being co-opted.

Adrian Taylor is another who has failed to attend meetings, but has informed the council he is not well and has stepped back from duties.

Mayor Gordon McLeod, who is also a staffing sub committee member, was not at the last two full council meetings.

This latest move move by Hadleigh town council to continue paying a former employee has been met with dismay by taxpayers.

Among the comments condemning the council was one lady who said simply:

"They are just talking the p**s."