Visit Chelmsford’s Local Plan exhibitions

Opportunities are coming up to attend exhibitions to find out more about proposals for Chelmsford’s future to 2041 as part of our Local Plan. The plan will affect everyone who lives, works or studies in Chelmsford. 

Options for Chelmsford’s future growth

The Local Plan will shape how Chelmsford develops in the next 20 years. When the revised plan is adopted in 2025/26, it will allocate land for housing, jobs, and community facilities until 2041. A public consultation on the draft Local Plan is taking place until 19 June 2024 and we want as many people as possible to read the plan and have their say.  

This is the second stage of consultation. It sets out proposed sites where new homes, jobs and other facilities could be located. It also contains updated and new policies that we would use to decide planning applications. 

We are also consulting on the Integrated Impact Assessment, which assesses the Preferred Options against a range of social, environmental and economic indicators.  

This review will ensure the Local Plan meets key council objectives: acting on the climate emergency, responding to the housing affordability crisis, building new infrastructure, and strengthening community ties. 

Visit our Chelmsford exhibition: 13–15 June 

To help people respond to the consultation by 19 June 2024, a final round of in-person exhibitions detailing the Preferred Options document and how to take part in the consultation will be available to view at Chelmsford’s Civic Centre on Thursday 13 June, Friday 14 June and Saturday 15 June 2024.

These are the dates and times to choose from: 

• Thursday 13 June 2024 6–8pm 
• Friday 14 June 2024 1–3pm 
• Saturday 15 June 2024 10am–12pm (with British Sign Language interpreter available) 

The exhibitions will be at the Civic Centre, Duke Street, Chelmsford, CM1 1JE.

Virtual tour of the Local Plan review

If you can’t get to one of these sessions, don’t worry, you can view the same exhibition virtually online. This is available 24/7 at: https://chelmsford-2024.vercel.app/.  

The full consultation documents are available online. However, to make it more convenient, the exhibition offers a summary.

Visit our South Woodham Ferrers exhibition

An un-staffed exhibition will be available to visit at South Woodham Town Council offices on the following dates:  

• Friday 31 May 2024 9am–4pm 
• Monday 3 June to Friday 7 June 2024 9am–4pm 
• Monday 10 June 2024 9am–4pm 
• Tuesday 11 June 2024 9am–4pm 

The exhibition will be at South Woodham Ferrers Town Council offices, Champions Manor Hall, Hullbridge Road, South Woodham Ferrers, CM3 5LJ. 

Have your say on Chelmsford’s future

The council has a Local Plan to guide its future growth so that Chelmsford is a greener, fairer and more connected community. Without an up-to-date local plan, the council could have very little influence over the location of new development and the provision of infrastructure. 

The government requires all councils to review their Local Plan every five years to see if it needs updating. Chelmsford City Council adopted its current Local Plan in 2020 and therefore is aiming to complete the review by 2025. 

This is the second stage of a consultation on the draft Local Plan, or ‘Preferred Options’. There will be a third round of consultation in early 2025 which will be informed by responses to this consultation.  

You can view the consultation documents and make comments on the Council’s planning policy consultation portal: www.chelmsford.gov.uk/planningpolicyconsult. 

How to respond with your views: 

• Via our consultation portal at www.chelmsford.gov.uk/planningpolicyconsult 
• By email to planning.policy@chelmsford.gov.uk 
• By post to Spatial Planning Services, Chelmsford City Council, Civic Centre, 
  Duke Street, Chelmsford, CM1 1JE. 

You can also call our team on 01245 606330 during office hours if there's something you would like to discuss or check before making a comment.