The weather continued unpredictably, with a very dry April followed by a very wet summer, with floods in the middle of June.

A series of key issues dominated Haverhill – town centre development being the first to rear its head with the unveiling of the new £9.25million multiplex cinema scheme in January.

After the town's rare elm trees were protected from threat, and St Edmundsbury Council put an additional £1.4 million in June, the plan went ahead quickly and is already visible to everyone.

Jubilee Walk improvements progressed more slowly. Starting later than planned in January, it was 13 weeks late by June, by which time the workmanship was being described as 'second class'.

Negotiations over Tesco went on all year, but other issues had begun to take centre stage – schools and doctors.

The schools organisation review by Suffolk County Council had already sent parents to Ipswich to protest in January, but it went forward anyway.

In May we learned Haverhill was to be one of the first areas for detailed consultation – a guinea pig.

The death of a Linton Village College pupil, Imogen Barker, while crossing the A1307 at the end of February brought the road debate back into focus.

Despite immediate discussion of a 50mph speed limit, and some safety works, little has happened so far.

But April brought a completely new crisis to light when we first heard about cuts to GP funding in Haverhill.

The new Suffolk Primary Care Trust planned to cut £300,000 from doctors budgets under a new contract, claiming Haverhill had the wrong kind of patients, and then explaining it wanted to bring in a 'fairer' system.

By May people were getting up a petition against the cuts.

In May, the Tories took over completely in the borough and town council elections, with a clean sweep of the town seats on the borough, and most of the town council.

The infamous Bookie Bandit, who struck on New Year's Day, returned on spring bank holiday Monday.

But June ended on a sad note. new town mayor Cllr Ted Trebble, having just unveiled his plans for the town, suffered a stroke and spent the rest of the year incapacitated, though hopefully making a recovery.

Deputy mayor Cllr Les Ager filled in for him for the rest of the year.

By July, people were getting a bit impatient with the Jubilee Walk improvements, and we also heard a large number of bollards were to be used to stop people parking in Haverhill's main shopping streets.

As if to underline this, the Shopmobility scheme was launched in July, allowing people with mobility problems to get about the town more easily.

Cambridge floated the idea of a congestion charge, the knock-on effect of which in Haverhill looked to be the death-knell of a park-and-ride or kiss-and-ride facility.

By August Jubilee Walk was 23 weeks overdue and by September people were talking about compensation.

It was finally opened on October 18, but even then opinion was divided on it, especially the cat sculpture, which, it emerged, had cost a princely £450.

There was another death on the A1307 in August, but within a week or two it was announced a large distribution centre was planned in Haverhill to bring 350 jobs, but also, it turned out, a lot of large lorries to the A1307.

A horrific week in December saw four deaths on roads locally, including another on the A1307, and plans for a speed limit at Linton were extended to consider taking in Horseheath as well.

In September we heard the leisure centre was to close for a year for refurbishment.

Another new facility unveiled was a church for the Catholic community of St Felix on the Parkway estate, with an exciting modern design.

The schools debate rumbled on, with the consultation phase for the Haverhill area in November and December renewing the flames, especially about whether there should be a secondary school in Clare or not.

The petition over GPs funding snowballed to 10,000 signatures and was handed in to Downing Street in November.

Within a few weeks doctors were claiming the PCT had hit back at their vocal protests by taking away a contract to cover Highpoint which they thought they were going to get.

Politics became even more confused in Haverhill when Labour county councillor Phill French defected to the Tories, acompanied by another potential candidate.

Vandalism was the main crime of the year, with the new Angles Return project at the Newt Pond being targeted, and the Jubilee Walk improvements being hit within 24 hours of its opening.

In November we gained an idea of something to look forward to – a tower with a restaurant on top, as part of the Tesco plans for Station Yard.

Happy New Year.