Community News
January 2021
The Mayor and ‘Parking in Hadleigh’ If I was asked to name the issue that really gets people up in arms in Hadleigh, it would probably be cars and parking. There are very strong views on this, although I think that most people accept that in rural areas like ours they are essential. This makes parking in Hadleigh a very important matter, since so many people from outlying villages and even parts of Hadleigh itself rely on being able to park in the town centre to do their shopping. The fact that short term parking is free here is a vital bonus to our businesses. Otherwise, you might as well go to a free car park at a shopping centre in Ipswich, and that is the last thing we want to see. We and our district councillors have had to fight this battle many times before, and there is a strong rumour that we may have to do so yet again. It seems to be becoming an annual event, like Christmas or the May Show. It is very hard to see why this should be imposed without our consent, and at a time of exceptional difficulty for the shops, pubs, restaurants and cafes that make our town what it is. We all know our town well, and we know that it would be a serious blow if parking charges were introduced, and an active discouragement to come here. Such a move would be nothing but a drain on our pockets and on the town’s economy, taking away money that would otherwise remain here, with no obvious benefit to Hadleigh itself, indeed serious harm. How these things are managed in other towns is irrelevant – does it have any significance for Hadleigh that Stowmarket does charge? No, it doesn’t, and the regulations in other places do not set a precedent for us. We need to make it crystal clear to our District Council that this proposal would be entirely unacceptable. I am quite sure our town’s Babergh councillors would be as strongly opposed to this idea as I am, but the problem is that ultimately any decision would be made by people who do not live here or represent us, and that is wrong. Councillors whose wards cover villages outside Hadleigh, whose residents use the car parks here all the time, may need to be reminded that away from the town, just as much as within it, any such decision would make them deeply unpopular. I do not know when - or indeed if – such plans will ever see the light of day, but we need to be ready to reject them, and to tell the District Council so in the strongest terms. Frank Minns, Hadleigh Town Mayor
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