News in Maldon

The Environment Agency (EA) has launched a public consultation on the design of the reactor intended for the proposed new nuclear power station at Bradwell.

Running until 4 April, the online exercise is being conducted as part of the EA's Generic Design Assessment (GDA) of the new reactor, the UK HPR1000.

There are reports of some flooding in different areas of the Maldon district this morning (Thursday, 14 January), including at Goldhanger.

It is believed that some roads in the village have been closed due to the hazardous conditions.

Heybridge Parish Council will be opening a foodbank offering essential items for residents needing support.

The foodbank will offer provisions for those needing help and will open its doors at Plantation Hall from 11am to 2pm each Friday, starting on 15 January.

The NHS trust running Broomfield Hospital has the second worst Covid death rate in England, figures suggest. Mid and South Essex Hospital Trust, which looks after Broomfield, Basildon and Southend hospitals, has had 1,313 Covid-related deaths during a total of more than 35,000 Covid bed days. The term 'Covid bed days' refers to the number of days that hospital beds have been occupied by Covid patients, with each day a Covid patient is an in-patient counting as one.

The figure for the three local hospitals equals a death rate of 37.27 per 1,000 Covid bed days.

Staff and customers at Maldon's refill eco shop are working together to show their appreciation for frontline workers.

Silo, in Bright's Path, are putting together hampers for frontline health workers as a practical way of thanking them for their critical work for the local community - and now customers can donate, too.

The amount of waste Essex residents have produced since the start of the pandemic has soared, figures have shown – forcing Essex County Council (ECC) into having to pay almost £5million more to deal with it.

ECC has had to allocate the additional funds to deal with the 47,000 tonnes of extra waste produced so far during the coronavirus crisis - 13 per cent more than expected.

In the latest of his regular columns, Chairman of Maldon District Council, Councillor Mark Heard, talks about the challenges of keeping safe and being kind in an unprecedented time.

I recently hand-delivered a birthday card locally and met a previous neighbour with whom I usually stop and have a chat with and generally pass the time of day. I was worried that they may think I was infectious, so I gave him plenty of room and mumbled "Oh, just delivering a birthday card," before scurrying out of his way even though I think he wanted to talk further.

The Chairman of Heybridge Basin Parish Council has spoken of how councillors were left with little choice but to close Daisy Meadow Car Park after hundreds of visitors flocked to the area since the start of the new national lockdown.

Councillor Michael Edwards said the parish council was inundated with requests from local residents, many of them pensioners and considered vulnerable to Covid-19, to express their fears over the situation.

One of the three hospitals managed by the local NHS trust - Southend Hospital - has today (Monday, 11 January) confirmed that it is starting to ration supplies to patients and is in a 'critical situation'.

An internal document has confirmed that patients receiving oxygen should have their supply 'weaned'.

It has been announced that Maldon District Council is supporting Essex County Council and the Department of Health and Social Care with the overall testing capacity for the district by distributing Covid-19 testing kits from today (Monday, 11 January) at Maldon Town Hall.

This is an opportunity for those who are asymptomatic (do not have symptoms) to be tested.