News in Maldon

Don't forget that Maldon's September Heritage Trail Weekend is on this weekend.

The event, which runs today (Saturday, 12 September) and tomorrow sees a number of the town's top historic sites and buildings open their doors to the public.

A MAJOR road familiar to many Maldon drivers for delays is to get a new 'pipeline' upgrade to allow better access through the county.

It is hoped the upgrade of the A120, from Braintree to the A12, to a dual carriageway will bring a valuable boost to the Essex economy by benefiting businesses, creating jobs and unlocking growth in the area.

THE impact of Covid-19 on acute hospital services for Maldon district residents has been revealed against a backdrop of hundreds of deaths across the wider Essex area.

The pandemic has challenged all parts of the health and social care system, from social care, primary and community care, mental health services, community and voluntary sector partners and notably, hospitals where waiting times for treatment across the board have rocketed.

PEOPLE who live, work and travel in Maldon district are being asked to make their views known on the future of policing the county's roads.

MALDON district's Saltmarsh 75 challenge has been cancelled due to the latest Covid-19 group number restrictions.

The annual event, which sees competitors cover a long-distance trail along the Essex coastline, was set for Saturday, October 3. Yesterday afternoon (Thursday, 10 September) a decision was made to put a stop to this year's challenge.

MALDON health hub, first promised to residents more than 20 years ago, has a new target date for delivery of the first phase of the project – 2024.

The first part of the plan to build the hub, originally described as "a new community hospital" for the area, will be to provide new "fit for purpose" premises for Blackwater Medical Centre. In 2016, the target date for the opening of the new facility was 2020.

NEW socially-distanced community coffee mornings launched in Maldon this week will be able to continue, despite the latest Covid-19 restrictions.

The first Safe Space coffee morning - put on to help provide some social contact for those who may have felt isolated or trapped in lockdown - was held in the Town Hall, Market Hill, yesterday (Wednesday, 9 September) just hours after the new 'rule of six' for social gatherings was announced. Under the new rules, social gatherings of more than six people indoors or outdoors will be illegal from Monday (14 September).

ANY Maldon travellers due to fly from Stansted may want to know that the rise in Covid-19 cases in the surrounding area has not been linked to the airport.

A peak in Covid-19 cases in Uttlesford is not linked to Stansted Airport, Essex County Council's public health chief has said.

A PLAN to build a new pub and 12 holiday lodges at the site of a vandalised Edwardian inn has been given the go-ahead by Maldon councillors.

Maldon District Council's Central Area Planning Committee decided to grant permission for the development at the site of the existing Mill Beach pub off Goldhanger Road yesterday (Wednesday, 9 September).

THE number of new homes per year Maldon District Council needs to include in its development plan would more than double under new government proposals.

If proposed changes to planning rules are made, the calculated minimum housing need for the district would rise from 308 to 623 dwellings each year.