Reader's Letter: What a sad state Hadleigh has become under this council - heads should roll

By Jackie McLuckie

17th Dec 2023 | Readers Letters

Hadleigh Town Council does not have general power of competency (Picture: Nub News)
Hadleigh Town Council does not have general power of competency (Picture: Nub News)

Dear Sir/Madam

No sooner had I finished chuckling at Rowland Taylor's Ghost's latest astute observations of our town than I ended up laughing out loud at yet another complete foul up by our 'esteemed' Hadleigh Town Council - or England's Most Useless, as it has become known.

Of course it was only right and proper that the possibility of better sporting facilities, including an artificial pitch, should be explored. Sadly, the project was clearly poorly mishandled, proper due diligence was not taken - they did not even take the correct measurements for goodness sake.

Apparently a fully, well paid Projects Officer was supposed to give councillors all the necessary details yet clearly failed time and time again. It took other (now former) councillors to actually do their homework and point out the raft of issues having a 3G pitch with its rubber crumb infill, and obvious environmental impact on the River Brett, would have, on this public space.

Then there was the cost, what the Hadleigh United Football Club treasurer Rolf Beggerow, and town councillor said, was challenged by these former councillors, and his clear conflict of interest brought admonishment from Babergh's Monitoring Officer, which Beggerow and the town council arrogantly ignored but no doubt noticed by potential grant funders.

Add this failed project to the humungous cost the Cemetery Extension has cost us town tax-payers and you can understand why so may of us have lost confidence in these EMU councillors. Oh, and why they struggle to get decent candidates to stand for election.

Little wonder HTC has lost its General Power of Competency certificate and quite frankly heads should roll at the Guildhall.

In my humble opinion good councillors have clearly been forced out, while EMUs remain.

Putting aside the incompetent HTC, I wanted to pick up something RTG pointed out, and not about Jilted John's phantom pyrotechnic's involvement, but a throwaway line about another of our questionable councils.

Just what is going on, or not going on at Corks Lane. The once thriving headquarters of Babergh District Council, and boon to our town's economy is hardly the epitome of dynamic democracy and innovation. The development is moving along at a glacial pace and the recent flooding did not just show the dangers of putting things on the sports field, but highlighted the problems potential homeowners will face come the next big storms.

And that is just the actual building, the impromptu lido that sprang on the Bridge Street car park, also earmarked for development, must have sent bells ringing, but what are our three Babergh districts councillors doing about that?

We need answers please RTG. (Hadleigh Nub News). I have to admit I have even less confidence in the Grand One as RTG describes her, after all she was among the Tories that took the council out of Hadleigh in the first place and does not appear to do anything for the town - just herself.

J McLuckie

Angel Street

Hadleigh

*Letters can be sent to Hadleigh Nub News either by using the red SEND Story button on the news page here. Or email the editor: [email protected]

Letters are the opinion of the writer, and not necessarily those of Hadleigh Nub News, but in the interest of openness and transparency will be printed as long as they are legal and in keeping with the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and Editor's Code of Conduct, which we abide by.

     

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