More than 1,000 people in Uttlesford have signed the Lib Dem petition calling for the County Council to abandon its plans to close Libraries in Essex. It was handed to Essex County Cllr. Stephen Robinson outside Saffron Walden Library by Councillors and local campaigners from Saffron Walden, Stansted and Thaxted.

Local people are firmly against the County Council's plan to close half the Libraries in Essex. On Saturday local Lib Dems collected nearly 400 signatures for their petition against the cuts.

Essex County Council was closely involved in planning the new community hub and library building in Stansted but pulled out with no warning just weeks before the lease was due to be signed. "They say the Library is underused and Stansted is not a 'deprived area' - but this was based on figures when there was a very restricted service because of the rebuilding", said Maureen Caton, Chair of Stansted Parish Council. "We have a high percentage of children on free school meals, one of the main indicators of hardship. Essex must remain involved in running the Stansted Library, (photo left shows the Stansted community lauching their Save Stansted Library campaign), so that we can continue to serve our community."

Something is wrong at the heart of Uttlesford District Council as it struggles to complete two major exercises that are important not only for this district.

The first is a critically important Local Plan for the future of the district. If UDC does not publish an updated plan in June, local control over planning may be lost to faceless bureaucrats sent in by the Westminster government. That would have enormous consequences by way of another planning free-for-all for developers in all our towns and villages.