Tree planting payments
Our Climate and Ecological Emergency Action Plan includes a greening programme to significantly increase woodland and tree cover in Chelmsford.
We have an ambition to ensure three new trees are planted for every new home built.
Where practicable, we will secure tree planting through a planning condition requiring tree planting on site, usually as part of a landscaping condition.
If a developer can't plant trees on site, they will have to make a financial contribution instead, as a commuted sum. The tariff is £300 per net new dwelling.
Our Tree Planting Planning Advice Note provides guidance on how we will implement and monitor our tree planting ambition.
Developer contributions
We will collect the money via planning obligations that we secure using:
- S106 agreements
- unilateral undertakings
- up-front payments
If you are unable to plant all the required trees on site, we will calculate the remaining financial contribution, based on £100 per missing tree. We will combine all the tree payments we collect, so we can plant trees in an alternative suitable location.
The easiest and cheapest way to pay is to make an up-front payment online before we issue planning permission. This ensures we can grant permission without delay. We will refund the payment if the development doesn't go ahead.
If you do not want to make an upfront payment, you will need to secure the obligation with a signed S106 agreement or unilateral undertaking. We will not be able to decide your application without this. You will then need to pay the contribution when you start work.
Supporting information
We published the Chelmsford Climate and Ecological Emergency Action Plan in January 2020.
The Chelmsford Local Plan (2020) includes a series of strategic policies. These underpin spatial planning decisions and ensure that the Local Plan focuses growth in the most sustainable locations. Strategy Policy S2 recognises that new development will seek to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
We have published two Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs):
These set out our tree planting ambition and describe how green infrastructure seeks to address climate change and promote high-quality sustainable development.