Hadleigh Town Councillor and Hadleigh United treasurer Rolf Beggerow has been given a 'final warning' about his repeated breaches of the council code of conduct, Hadleigh Nub News has learned. 

The warning has come from the Monitoring Officer at Babergh District Council, its chief legal officer, who is responsible for assessing potential breaches of the code. 

Cllr Beggerow was found to have breached the code on several occasions due to his participation in council discussions and votes in which he had a conflict of interest. 

The conflict of interest arose over the Layham Road Sports Ground project for a new pavilion and artificial 3G pitch and Cllr Beggerow's role as treasurer of Hadleigh United, which was forecast by the council as the main user of the Layham Road development.

The Monitoring Officer found Cllr Begerow in breach because, according to the code of conduct, he should have left the meetings and not participated.

Cllr Beggerow spoke and voted on the project was estimated to cost approximately £2 million, at many council meetings about the project. In at least one case his vote made a difference to the result. 

This is not the first time Cllr Beggerow has been found in breach of the code due to his conflict of interest. In November 2022, Cllr Beggerow was found in breach by the Monitoring Officer, as reported by Hadleigh Nub News.

Then the Monitoring Officer recommended Cllr Beggerow receive some training on the code of conduct, and recommended that the council review any decisions on Layham Road that he was involved in to assess the risk of potential challenges.

However, following this finding Cllr Beggerow continued to participate in council discussions and votes on Layham Road over a period of several months. 

In December 2022, Hadleigh town council refused to take action at the time, backed the offending Cllr Beggerow and criticised Babergh's monitoring office.

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Hadleigh Nub News has learned that in August 2023 the Monitoring Officer again found Cllr Beggerow had breached the code on multiple occasions.

It is not clear what, if any, sanctions were recommended by the Monitoring Officer.

The Monitoring Office did not publish its finding, contrary to recommended best practice. 

Hadleigh town council failed to act and instead criticised Babergh

Following the Monitoring Officer's second finding, Cllr Beggerow still continued to participate in Layham Road discussions and votes, which resulted in his latest 'final warning', thought to be been given in January this year. Again, it is not clear if the Monitoring Officer has recommended any sanction on the councillor despite his repeated breaches, nor whether they have made any further recommendations to Hadleigh Town Council.

Hadleigh Nub News has spoken with people associated with the council over the period of Cllr Beggerow's breaches of the code.

One who is aware of the situation said: "It's appalling that he has been allowed to get away with it for so long. It's like he has been given several yellow cards, but never a red one, with the referee saying 'I really mean it this time'. It makes you lose faith in the ref and wonder if the game is a fair one." 

Another said: 'A key vote on the 3G pitch was lost because of Cllr Beggerow's vote when he should not have been in the room.

"If that vote had gone the way it should, we may have found out before the council signed the contract with the Football Foundation that it does not offer an alternative to rubber crumb infill, and cannot commit to date when it would offer it.

"It's not unreasonable to think that the council would not have signed the contract under those circumstances."

Yet another added: "I was hauled before the Babergh Standards Panel because the Monitoring Office wasn't happy with an apology I had given.

"They then spoke to the press about their finding and about how they would publish it. Cllr Beggerow seems to have been treated differently. Which, given the size of the Layham Road Sportsground project, and the seriousness and number of his breaches of the code, is very concerning."

 Cllr Beggerow was approached for comment by Nub News but has far failed to respond.