A stormy Hadleigh town council meeting had to be halted last night as the row over Christmas trees escalated.

Chairman Gordon McLeod, standing in for mayor Frank Minns who missed the meeting for personal reasons, suspended proceedings for five minutes, after angry exchanges about a solicitor's letter sent to a resident who had complained about the way the town centre trees had been erected.

Councillor Andrew Knock had asked who had authorised the letter threatening the resident with an injunction, why councillors had not been informed before it had been sent, and how much had the legal action cost taxpayers.

Cheryl Tye, the £42,000 a year town council manager, and clerk Wendy Brame, who is paid around £30,000 per annum, refused to answer the questions, and Cllr McLeod claimed he did not know.

He looked for help from the officers but they did not assist and Mrs Brame said she agreed with Cllr Gavin Talbot who had called for the issue to be dealt with in a confidential meeting, even though the letter, and the problems about the way the Christmas trees were put up, was already in the public domain.

Cllr Brian Loftus was accused of trying to cover up the fiasco when he asked for the next item on the agenda to be heard and the questioning of officers to cease ,as the row continued.

Cllr McLeod, and the two officers then rose and stood behind their chairs meaning the meeting had been halted and the chairman called for a five minute break to allow people to calm down.

A member of the public called the behaviour of officers and some councillors as 'shameful' and their refusal to answer questions about the potential gagging order as 'a cover up'.

Many councillors hung their heads as the lady asked: "Do you feel threatening a resident of Hadleigh who is tree specialist and understands tree safety management, who voiced and notified valid points about the safety of dangerously aloft trees with an injunction is appropriate behaviour?"

Upon resumption Cllrs McLeod and Knock apologised for their behaviour.

Council threaten resident with gagging order

Clerk refuses questions to be answered by councillors

Mrs Brame had earlier advised Cllr McLeod not to allow councillors to answer a question from a member of the public speaking in the open forum, even though two had said they were willing to respond.

She claimed standing orders did not require councillors to answer questions from members of the public in the letter, however it was pointed out that the directive did not prevent answering questions if they could and wanted to, as was the case last night, before the chairman ruled against them speaking up,

The questioner, who was not asked her name, wanted to know which councillors had been made aware of the town council's decision to respond the the residents complaint by legal action.

Only two, Cllrs Knock and Huw Roberts responded to say they had not been made aware.

The lady also wanted to know:

"Bearing in mind the resident has written statements from shop keepers and videos showing her calm and respectful communication and apologised profusely with acceptance and understanding directly from the town clerk who took a heated call.

"Bearing this in mind the content of said legal letter is indeed highly accusatory and full of false defamoratry statements. Is this appropriate behaviour and really the ethos of how the town council wishes to present itself to its residents?"

She also tried to get answers to her questions, which included:

Why was the welcome back to Hadleigh fund spent on Christmas trees?

How much was spent procuring and erecting the 57 trees?

How many trees of the 57 have fallen down? (She pointed out that at least four had fallen)

Who was responsible and organised the procurement and erection of the trees on behalf of the town council?

Do you feel that the town council has done a safe, legal and satisfactory job with the trees this year?

Why did Cllr Minns state the reasons for step cutting the base of the trees instead of pointing them was because they were freshly cut thus it was easier?

Why was a solicitors letter to a resident sent from the town council when not all councillors had agreed or even been notified of the intention?

She also pointed out that a video of the workers stating they didn't know what they were doing or had no training, was in the public domain.

Another public speaker, Kieron Ruddy, asked why he had not received a response to an email he had sent the town council asking about the legality of the way the trees had been erected and who was responsible.

He also questioned why volunteers, that had successfully erected Christmas trees in the town centre in the past, were not used, and what the costs of using unqualified contractors had been.

Ms Tye said he would be sent an emailed response today.

Mr Ruddy said: "I hope the response does not include a solicitor's letter threatening an injunction."

Council threaten resident with gagging order

*What do you think of the town centre Christmas tree fiasco and the behaviour of officers, the mayor and councillors and should a solicitor's letter have been sent to a resident for complaining? email the editor: [email protected]