Adopted Local Plan

We adopted the Chelmsford Local Plan 2013-2036 in May 2020. In it, we identify the number and locations for houses, jobs and businesses we are planning for, along with the infrastructure needed to support growth.

This includes where children will go to school, where people will work, and how they will get around. It considers issues such as such as new roads, sustainable travel, access to the outdoors using green spaces and the wider countryside. We also include planning policies we use to decide planning applications, and settlement boundaries for our towns and villages to protect green spaces.

Local Plan document

This is a large document featuring detailed information, and may take some time to open. You may find it easier to view on a desktop computer, rather than on a smartphone or tablet.

Chelmsford Adopted Local Plan (with maps)
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Chelmsford Adopted Local Plan (text only)
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Policies Maps

Policies Map legend

This is the key to all the notations on the map. Each individual map below also includes the legend.

1. Chelmsford North

2. Chelmsford South

3. Chelmsford Urban Area 

4. Chelmsford City Centre

5. South Woodham Ferrers

6. South Woodham Ferrers Town Centre

Policies Map insets

7. Battlesbridge (Rettendon Parish)

8. Bicknacre (Woodham Ferrers and Bicknacre parish)

9. Boreham

10. Broomfield

11. Chatham Green (Little Waltham parish)

12. Danbury

13. East Hanningfield

14. Edney Common (Highwood parish)

15. Ford End (Great Waltham parish)

16. Galleywood

17. Good Easter

18. Great Leighs (Great and Little Leighs parish)

19. Great Waltham and Howe Street

20. Highwood (Loves Green)

21. Howe Green

22. Little Baddow

23. Little Waltham

24. Margaretting

25. Pleshey

26. Ramsden Heath (South Hanningfield parish)

27. Rettendon Common

28. Rettendon Place

29. Roxwell

30. Runwell

31. Sandon

32. Stock

33. St. Luke's Park (Rettendon and Runwell parishes)

34. Temple Farm and Temple Wood (West Hanningfield and Stock parishes)

35. West Hanningfield and Hanningfield Reservoir Treatment Works

36. Woodham Ferrers (Woodham Ferrers and Bicknacre parish)

37. Writtle

38. Bolding Hatch (Roxwell parish)

39. Old Park Farm (Great Waltham parish)

40. Warner's Farm (Great Waltham parish)

41. Woodlands (South Hanningfield parish)

42. Oaklands (Stock parish)

Neighbourhood Plans

You can view the designated Neighbourhood Plans areas, and find out more about Neighbourhood Plans.

Interactive map

View our interactive map

This map is a digital representation of the Local Plan Policies Map. You can also check the definitive printed/PDF version of the map, which is available on this page.

Development proposals should take account of both the Local Plan and the following documents, which are all part of the Development Plan for our administrative area:

The Local Plan replaces all the policies and Proposals (Policies) Maps in the following documents:

  • Core Strategy Development Plan and Development Control Policies Development Plan Document (DPD), February 2008
  • Chelmsford Town Centre Area Action Plan DPD, August 2008
  • North Chelmsford Area Action Plan DPD, July 2011
  • Site Allocations DPD, February 2012
  • Core Strategy Development Plan and Development Control Policies Focused Review DPD, December 2013

We formally revoked the following Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs): 

  • Making Places SPD, June 2008
  • Building for Tomorrow SPD, June 2013
  • Planning Obligations SPD, June 2014

We have also revoked the following informal Planning Guidance Documents:

  • Affordable Housing Implementation Guide, March 2015
  • Interim Residential Parking Guidance, March 2015
  • Interim Recycling and Waste Guidance, September 2013

We carried out a wide range of research to help us deliver our new Local Plan, which you can view in our Evidence Base. 

We have also published other documents as part of the Local Plan adoption:

We have undertaken a wide range of research to help us develop our Local Plan. 

We are reviewing our adopted Local Plan, and will be preparing a new evidence base to support the review. 

Our evidence base includes:

  • background information
  • our existing strategies and planning policies
  • specially commissioned studies on topics where more information is helpful to us

You can view the evidence base for the adopted Local Plan.

You can view paper copies of these documents at our Customer Service Centre.

You can also view a copy at the following libraries:

  • Broomfield
  • Danbury
  • Galleywood
  • Great Baddow
  • North Melbourne
  • South Woodham Ferrers
  • Springfield
  • Stock
  • Writtle
  • Billericay
  • Braintree
  • Hatfield Peverel
  • Ingatestone
  • Wickford
  • mobile library for Chelmsford area

The Green Belt is an area of land around a built-up area, which helps prevent urban sprawl. 

It is a national designation, which is set out in full in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).  There are restrictions on the types of new buildings, extensions and uses which are allowed in the Green Belt.

The Green Belt in Chelmsford covers almost 34% of the land in the south and west of the borough. It is part of London's Green Belt (also known as the Metropolitan Green Belt).

You can download an indicative map, which gives an overview of the Green Belt in Chelmsford.

You can visit our Local Plan evidence base and search for green belt to download: 

  • more accurate maps, showing the Green Belt on a larger scale
  • our policies around protecting the Green Belt

We need to review the adopted Local Plan at least every five years. 

We started that process in early 2022 and you can follow progress of the Local Plan review.

Each of our newsletters gives an overview of the different stages of developing the new Local Plan.

You can download our:

Masterplans are high level documents, which set out what we expect from a new development on strategic growth sites allocated in the Local Plan. 

We use masterplans to help create excellent places to live, work and enjoy, and which are suitable for the individual site. They help us to make sure developments deliver what the area needs, while giving developers some flexibility.

You can find out more about the current and adopted Masterplans.

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