Focused consultation on Chelmsford’s Local Plan to begin

A focused consultation on the addition of several new and expanded housing and employment sites to the Local Plan is being launched by Chelmsford City Council.

The consultation will run from Thursday 20 November until Thursday 8 January. It gives residents the opportunity to review and comment on revisions to the Local Plan that have had to be made in response to several significant events which affect future housebuilding in Chelmsford. These include:

• The Government cancelling the A12 widening scheme.
• Three key development sites having either stalled or been significantly delayed.
• Other developers slowing down their build rates.
• The Government’s new housing target now having to be met in full (a change since May 2025).

The revisions include the allocation of 11 new and three expanded housing sites across the district, the expansion of one employment site, and updates to the associated planning policies and documents. The proposed changes will provide five years’ worth of housing for the district as required by the Government in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Ensuring development in Chelmsford is responsibly planned

The Local Plan is reviewed every five years to make sure future growth across the district continues to evolve in a sustainable way, and that development is properly planned.

During the latest review process, it became clear that the council would need to bring forward more land for development to meet the Government’s increased housing needs target and ensure a supply of new homes for the first five years of the plan.

The council therefore identified several new and expanded housing sites that can help deliver a variety of homes within the first five years from the Local Plan’s adoption, including the overall requirement of 35% affordable homes. These will help the council meet the housing needs target set for it by the Government to provide 1,210 new homes across the Chelmsford district each year and provide much needed affordable housing.

In total, the new sites will provide 1,592 additional homes in the Local Plan, which covers the period to 2041.

Speaking after the council approved plans for a public consultation on the additional sites to begin, Councillor Rose Moore, Cabinet Member for a Greener Chelmsford, said:

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“We understand that residents may feel cautious about new housing proposals, especially when they’re driven by national targets. These concerns are entirely valid, and we want to be transparent about the pressures we’re facing.

"Government requirements mean we must identify enough housing that can be delivered within the first five years of the plan and that will be supported by infrastructure, like schools and transport links, to support new communities.

"Through this consultation, we’re inviting residents to help shape how and where Chelmsford grows. Your feedback will be vital in ensuring that any development reflects local needs and values. Together, we can work towards a greener, fairer and more connected future, while meeting the demands placed upon us.”

Cllr Rose Moore, Cabinet Member for a Greener Chelmsford

Consultation to focus on gathering responses to additional sites

This focused consultation gives residents and stakeholders the chance to express their thoughts on the recent proposed changes to the Local Plan and associated policies and documents.

You will be able to comment on the most recent changes which include:

• The 11 new and three expanded housing site allocations.
• One expanded employment site allocation.
• The Integrated Impact Assessment, which assesses the sites against a range of social, environmental and economic indicators. 
• Key consequential tracked changes to Strategic Policy S6 – Housing and Employment Requirements.
• Key consequential tracked changes to Strategic Policy S7 – The Spatial Strategy.
• Key consequential tracked changes to the Monitoring Framework
• Key consequential changes to the Draft Policies Map.
• The Additional Sites Development Trajectory.

If you took part in the previous Local Plan consultation, which happened in February and March this year, you do not need to resubmit comments. Responses made during this consultation have already been recorded in a feedback report and will be submitted in full to the Planning Inspector alongside the responses gathered from this focused consultation.

Speak to a planning officer about the additional site proposals at a staffed exhibition at the Civic Centre

If you’d like to understand more about the proposals, and how you can respond to them, you can visit a staffed exhibition in the Civic Centre from Thursday 11 December until Saturday 13 December.

During these informal drop-in sessions, you will be able to look at the plans and speak to a planning officer about the proposals. The exhibition will be open at the following times:

Thursday 11 December from 6pm to 8pm
Friday 12 December from 1pm to 3pm
Saturday 13 December from 10am to 12 noon

The Civic Centre is located on Duke Street, Chelmsford, CM1 1JE. A location map and travel information can be found on the Chelmsford City Council website.

Get involved and take part in the consultation

The focused consultation will run for seven weeks from 10am on Thursday 20 November 2025 until 4pm on Thursday 8 January 2026.

You can view the proposals online on Chelmsford City Council’s Planning Policy Consultation Portal, or take a look at them in person on printed panels during unstaffed public exhibitions in Chelmsford and South Woodham Ferrers. Exhibitions will be located at:

High Chelmer Shopping Centre, Exchange Way, Chelmsford CM1 1XB from Monday 1 December to Monday 8 December. Unstaffed exhibition displayed all day during opening hours.

South Woodham Ferrers Town Council, Champions Manor Hall, Hullbridge Road, South Woodham Ferrers, CM3 5LJ from Thursday 4 December to Tuesday 9 December. Unstaffed exhibition displayed 9am to 4pm on weekdays, 9am to 3.30pm on Saturday, closed on Sunday.

If you’d like to make a representation, you can comment on as much or as little of the proposals as you like, but it is important that you identify which policy or part of the document you are commenting on.

The simplest way to submit comments is through the council’s Planning Policy Consultation Portal. The portal allows you to read and save the consultation documents, submit your comments and sign up for alerts to future consultations.

You can also submit your comments by email to planning.policy@chelmsford.gov.uk or by post to Spatial Planning Services, Chelmsford City Council, Civic Centre, Duke Street, Chelmsford, CM1 1JE. Please ensure you include your name and address as anonymous representations cannot be recorded.

Full details of how to make comments, including information on what the legal requirements are, can be found on the Chelmsford City Council website.