“I submitted a Motion to be heard a Full Council yesterday with a view to addressing parking issues in Hadleigh as promised to residents and the local business community. This is important if we are to support the vitality of the town centre and livelihood of our local traders.
Unfortunately this was not heard last evening, but following my request to the councils CEO, I have received the following apology to share with the community. The timing of my submission was in direct response to information contained in a correspondence received from council officers moments before, and therefore could not have been made sooner.
Rest assured I will continue to champion this issue on behalf of the ward, residents and the business community.
Dear Cllr Mrs Thornton.
Your original motion as submitted was not eligible to be put forward in the form in which you submitted it because it contained confidential information the disclosure of which could compromise the Council’s position. Your motion was submitted on the due date of Friday 14 July at 4:27pm.
Ideally, we should have made contact with you and invited you to re-word the Motion before the 4:45pm Friday deadline, but we did not. It was a genuine human oversight, caused through pressure of work and combined with the lateness of the hour in which your Motion was submitted, the opportunity was unfortunately missed. Please accept my apologies.
As part of the Council’s Transformation Programme I will be reviewing staffing levels and service provision and operating procedures to improve our performance. In the meantime, the review of the Constitution will allow for greater clarity in terms of drafting for key processes such as this one and I will be engaging with members to identify those points in the current constitution which, in their opinion, need amplification.
Separately I acknowledge your request for the matters particular to Hadleigh Town Centre to be highlighted as part of the planned Car Parking Review and I will ensure that these nuances are captured by the relevant officers and Cabinet Members.
Yours sincerely Angela Hutchings “
