Dear sir,
John Bloomfield (EADT February 7) suggests that it would be better for Hadleigh had Babergh District Council kept East House open rather than aim for a new purpose-built community facility nearby.
As a longstanding Hadleigh resident, I must admit to a certain amount of affection for East House. However, the wearing of rose-tinted spectacles and a feeling for the past does not make for good forward planning. I believe that should the Hadleigh Community Facility be built it will offer far more to a far greater number of residents than East House ever could.
Quite simply, East House is not fit-for-purpose. Suffolk County Council decided not to renew its lease partly because “as a venue for youth work, the building has its limitations. There is a multitude of interconnecting spaces that pose difficulties when supervising young people. Use of the cellar by young people is also complicated due to poor accessibility and having no fixed heating”.
Babergh’s decision to sell the property was backed up by a clear commitment that the money raised would be used for the specific benefit of the town’s residents. That remains our clear intention, although as those receipts have not yet materialised, the £2m cost of the prospective Hadleigh Community Facility will be fully funded from other sources.
Mr Bloomfield’s comments about the ‘haste’ with which Babergh has proceeded with the Community Facility project is frankly misleading as it represents consultation within Hadleigh and work over the past 18 months and the green light was given to the project back in June 2008 - not exactly yesterday!
Hadleigh deserves better than lectures by a few about the past. It needs facilities for the future for the many!
Yours faithfully
Cllr. Richard Whiting
Hadleigh North
Babergh District Council
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