A pioneering body responsible for a town’s funding has voted to continue holding its meetings behind closed doors.

ONE Haverhill is one of only 12 bodies in the country through which community budgeting is being trialled, with a board made up of organisations across the town deciding where money is spent.

Debate has raged since it was set up in 2011 about whether its meetings should be held privately or publicly, with elected councillors chief among those advocating meetings in the open.

However, the board has taken the decision that meetings will continue to be held in private for at least another year.

ONE Haverhill chairman Sarah Howard said: “ONE Haverhill is a catalyst, an enabling organisation where ideas are discussed with different public and private sector organisations in the town represented. It is not a council meeting.

“Understandably some council elected members have been pushing for public meetings. This is what they are used to, but the majority view is that these are working meetings, and as such would not benefit from change.”