Chelmsford News
The latest Chelmsford news: planning decisions, council and crime updates, business and community stories, each linked back to its official source.
Top story
State Fayre 2027: The Chicks and Kacey Musgraves Join Shania
The Chicks headline Friday 18 June and Kacey Musgraves Sunday 20 June at Hylands Park, with Shania Twain on the Saturday. General sale opens 9am on 13 November.
More stories
What's On
Five Chelmsford Summer Series: Central Park, 27 August 2027
Five headline Chelmsford Summer Series at Central Park on Friday 27 August 2027. Adult tickets are listed at £48 and £52, and VIP at £99 and £125.
Best places to live
'Superb all-rounder' Chelmsford named among UK's best places to live
Chelmsford has been named among the UK's best places to live for 2027, one of eight Essex places on the list.
Business news
Business
Cummins Shop on Gandalf's Ride, South Woodham Ferrers, Applies to Sell Alcohol
Cummins on Gandalf's Ride has applied to sell alcohol to take away, 7am to 11pm every day. Comments to Chelmsford City Council close on 17 November 2026.
Health
Chelmsford Parents Asked: Was Your Baby's Safer Sleep Advice Any Good?
NHS Essex wants parents and parents-to-be in Chelmsford to say how clear their baby safer sleep advice was. The five-minute survey closes on 23 November.
Remembrance
Witham Remembrance Sunday Parade: Priti Patel Lays Wreath
Hundreds turned out for Witham's Remembrance Sunday parade on 8 November, led by the Royal British Legion. Priti Patel also laid a wreath in Tollesbury.
Sport
Witham Town FC Plans 7 Padel Courts and £53,000 Pitch Fence
Witham Town FC plans seven padel courts and a £53,000 fence around its pitch. MP Priti Patel visited the club, which draws more than 250 fans on a Saturday.
Hylands Park
Hylands Park Forest School Starts Monday 9 November, From £16
Woodland Wanderers opens a forest school at Hylands Park: Monday mornings for ages two to five from 9 November, and Saturday sessions for six to 11s. From £16 a child, with free parking.
Chelmsford Theatre
Three Children Win Chelmsford Theatre's Voice of Panto 2026
Three Chelmsford children aged 6 to 11 wrote the welcome lines Cinderella audiences will hear this Christmas. The theatre says over 75% of panto seats are already sold.
Great Baddow
Great Baddow Hoard Box for Schools: £35 a Half Term
Schools can now hire a Museum of Chelmsford box built around the Great Baddow Hoard for £35 a half term. Beehive Lane pupils helped design its lessons.
Street Care
Chelmsford Street Sweepers Named: Meet Vac Sparrow
Residents named Chelmsford's three new street cleaners Dustfree Springfield, Anglia Dustin and Vac Sparrow. Here is what each does and how to request help.
Schools
Priti Patel Asks Essex for 3-Year School Transport Forecast
Priti Patel has asked Essex County Council for school transport spending and three-year forecasts. Families have raised costs, delays and service problems.
Essex County Council
Priti Patel Asks Essex to Explain £170m Council Budget Gap
Priti Patel has asked Essex County Council which services are at risk from a £170m budget gap and what it plans for council tax. Checked November 2026.
Business
Witham Engine Firm Bourne HPP Wins GT Races in Guyana
Witham's Bourne High Performance Powertrains won GT races in Guyana in July and in Barbados. MP Priti Patel visited to meet the team and driver Will Redford.
What's On
Shania Twain to Headline State Fayre at Hylands Park in 2027
Shania Twain headlines State Fayre at Hylands Park on Saturday 19 June 2027. The Chicks headline the Friday and Kacey Musgraves the Sunday, and tickets are on sale.
Business
Priti Patel Visits AUVA Certification in Little Braxted
Witham MP Priti Patel met AUVA Certification's founders at Little Braxted Hall to hear their growth plans, after first meeting them at Farnborough Airshow.
Council
Chelmsford Night Patrols Extended to Christmas: 10 Arrests
Extra Friday and Saturday night police patrols in Chelmsford city centre now run to the end of December, 7pm to 3am. The summer tally: 10 arrests in 264 hours.
Leisure
Chelmsford Women-Only Gym Sessions: Dovedale From 4 Nov, £3
Women-only beginner weights start at Dovedale Leisure Centre on Wednesday 4 November, 6pm: £3 a session, or £30 for 12 weeks if booked first. CSAC follows in January.
Music
Saffron Hall Sells 3,000 Tickets a Year to Chelmsford Fans
Saffron Hall's chief executive says ticket sales for the three Chelmsford Cathedral concerts will decide whether the series becomes a year-round fixture.
Springfield
Springfield Green Play Area Vote: 3 Designs, Closes 6 Nov
Only one of the three new playground designs for Springfield Green is aimed at children over 10. Voting closes at midday on Friday 6 November; here is each one.
Domestic abuse
Chelmsford MP Wants a Specialist Domestic Abuse Court
Marie Goldman has asked the Justice Secretary for a specialist domestic abuse court in Chelmsford, saying abuse cases are over 20% of the local court backlog.
Central Park
Seymour Street Bridge Repairs: Reopening Hoped by New Year
The closed Central Park footbridge can be fixed without major strengthening, the council says. It hopes to finish by the end of the year, weather permitting.
House prices
Chelmsford House Prices Down £9,076, Second-Worst in Essex
The average Chelmsford home was worth £376,682 in August, 2.4% down on a year. Only Castle Point fell further in Essex, while Braintree and Maldon rose.
Weather
Storm Boelo in Chelmsford: Rain from Noon, 42mph Gusts
Storm Boelo brings rain to Chelmsford from about noon today and gusts of 40 to 42mph this evening. No warning for Essex. Sunday is dry but gusts hit 45mph.
Chelmsford
Great Baddow Cricketer Named Start Up Loans Ambassador
Freddie Chatt's Village Cricket Co., begun after his bat broke, has sold out every year since 2020 on two Start Up Loans. Now he fronts the scheme in the East.
Schools
Chelmsford GCSE League Table 2026: KEGS Tops Essex
KEGS and County High top all 80 Essex state secondaries, and Beaulieu Park beats every other non-grammar in the city. All 11 Chelmsford schools ranked.
HMP Chelmsford
Chelmsford Prison Rated Safer, but Health Care Still Failing
Inspectors rate HMP Chelmsford reasonably good for safety, five years after it failed. Staff assaults fell 26%, but health care and time out of cell fall short.
Housing
Chelmsford Homelessness: 365 Households Placed Out of Area
365 Chelmsford households, 251 with children, were in temporary homes outside the city in August. The council's new homelessness strategy sets out what it plans next.
Health
Broomfield Trust: 8.1% Wait Over a Year, Chelmsford MP Says
Marie Goldman MP told a Westminster Hall debate 8.1% of patients at Broomfield's trust wait over a year, against 1.5% nationally, and asked who is accountable.
Planning
St Peter's College Site: 185 Homes Backed on Fox Crescent
Councillors have backed up to 185 homes and 60 independent living flats on the old St Peter's College field off Fox Crescent, 78 of them affordable.
Environment
Chelmsford Free Tree Giveaway: Collect 26 to 28 November
Claimed a free tree? Collect it at South Woodham Ferrers on 26 November, Melbourne Park on 27 November or Bell Meadow on 28 November. Claims closed on 5 November.
Chelmsford City Racecourse
Chelmsford Racecourse Is Back With Tickets From £15
Racing is back at Great Leighs, with advance tickets at £15 and meetings on 5 and 26 November and 3, 10 and 17 December. Updated November 2026.
Planning
Chelmsford Local Plan Hearings to 1 December: 22,990 Homes
Inspectors test the plan at the Civic Centre on 10-12 and 17-19 November and 1 December. The housing number, 1,210 a year against 1,433, is on 11 November.
Chelmsford
Chelmsford Teacher's Word Game Hits 2,500 Plays in 3 Weeks
EXPANDAGRAM, a free word game by a Chelmsford teacher, passed 2,500 plays in about three weeks: three letters, 60 seconds, and a daily challenge for everyone.
Health
Lampard Inquiry: Chelmsford MP Backs Families' CPR Call
Marie Goldman MP attended the Lampard Inquiry's interim hearing and backs three changes families want: CPR training, health checks and consent for cameras.
Food hygiene
Chelmsford food hygiene: Boreham butcher goes from 1 to 5
A G Smith Butchers in Boreham went from a 1 in July to a 5 in September. And August was not all 5s after all: eight later ratings came in lower.
Business
New Chelmsford Companies: 156 Registered in September
156 new firms registered at Chelmsford addresses in September, up from 114 in August: a Duke Street takeaway, a Springfield Road restaurant and a nail bar.
Parks
Chelmsford Green Flag Parks: All 19, Two New This Year
Chelmsford now has 19 Green Flag parks, the most in the East of England. John Shennan Field and Marconi Ponds won for the first time. The full list is here.
Crime
Chelmsford Night Marshals Now Patrol Fridays Too
Chelmsford's Night Marshals now patrol Friday nights too, 10pm to 4am, funded by a Home Office knife crime grant. What it buys and what police data shows.
Planning
Lidl Waterson Vale Rebuild: Store Doubles, Moulsham Inn Goes
Lidl wants to demolish its Waterson Vale store, the Farmfoods unit and the empty Moulsham Inn for one 2,238 sq m shop. Comments close 16 October.
House prices
Chelmsford House Prices Fall 2.3%, Steepest Since Sept 2024
The average Chelmsford home is worth £378,080, down £8,712 in a year. Flats fell 4.7%. Only Castle Point and Brentwood fell further in Essex.
Chelmsford
Chelmsford Racecourse Loses Two More Racedays to Southwell
The 8 and 15 October evening fixtures move to Southwell, six months after the licence expired. The racecourse's own site still lists eight racedays.
Council
Chelmsford Transport Grant: £1,500 Each, Closes 9 October
Grants of up to £1,500 from a £14,000 pot, for projects that get Chelmsford residents to appointments, work and food. Applications close at noon on 9 October.
Chelmsford
Chelmsford County High Win First State School Cup at Lord's
Chelmsford County High School are the first girls' champions of the Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup, beating Penistone Grammar in the final at Lord's.
Bins
Chelmsford Bin Rounds: 7,500 Homes May Change Day
Around 7,500 Chelmsford homes could get a new bin day in early 2027. The council is not posting out a printed recycling calendar while it redraws rounds.
Crime
Chelmsford Night Patrols: 9 Arrests in 248 Hours
Nine arrests, 37 stop searches and one knife seized in the first 248 hours of Chelmsford's joint-funded night patrols. The police data tells a fuller story.
Chelmsford
Diocese of Chelmsford picks ex-ambassador as chief executive
Harriet Mathews, the first female British ambassador to Somalia, takes over in October at a diocese budgeting for an £869,000 deficit this year.
Council
Chelmsford's 2028 Council Merger Withdrawn by Government
The government has withdrawn the plan to merge Chelmsford, Brentwood and Maldon into one council in 2028, and May 2027 elections will use existing boundaries.
Community
South Woodham Ferrers Swim Gala: 40 Awards, Lessons Full
Forty children finished an eight-week Club Links course at South Woodham Ferrers, awards presented by Olympic diver Sarah Barrow. Council lesson lists are full.
What's On
Museum of Chelmsford free weekend: vote on 20 treasures
Free entry to the Museum of Chelmsford on 19 and 20 September, when you can vote on the 20-object shortlist that decides its new Top 10 Treasure Trail.
Food hygiene
Chelmsford food hygiene: August's first 36 ratings all 5s
The first 36 August ratings published were all 5s; lower ones came later. 17 premises sat below 3, and the ten worst all failed on management.
Planning
Chelmsford Garden Community Road Works Start 1 September
Footpaths 22 and 23 are shut to 1 March 2027 while the 1.55km road for the 10,000-home Chelmsford Garden Community is built. Updated November 2026.
Chelmsford City Racecourse
Chelmsford racecourse: two more fixtures moved to Southwell
Two September meetings have been moved to Southwell, almost five months after the last race at Great Leighs. July's rescue deal still has no racing licence.
House prices
Chelmsford house prices fall 1.2%, first drop in 21 months
The average Chelmsford home is worth £383,103, down £4,565 on a year ago. Only 62 of 295 English districts fell, and five of them are in Essex.
Jobs
Chelmsford unemployment rate 2.7%: young claims up a third
Chelmsford's claimant count hit 3,160 in July, 2.7% of working-age residents. Claims by 18 to 24-year-olds are up a third in two years, to 625. Ward figures below.
Schools
Chelmsford GCSE results day 2026: times and the 1pm deadline
Results are out on Thursday 20 August. Great Baddow opens its gym at 9am and wants sixth form places accepted by 1pm. The KEGS and CCHS forms exist for one day.
Schools
Chelmsford A level results 2026: CCHS 58% at A* or A
Chelmsford County High reports 58% of grades at A* or A and 84 students with three top grades. New Hall and Great Baddow have published too; KEGS has not.
Planning
Chelmsford crematorium plan: have your say from 21 August
The council wants a 22-acre cemetery and crematorium east of Stock Road, West Hanningfield. The survey runs 21 August to 4 September, with a drop-in on 27 August.
What's On
Heritage Open Days Chelmsford: 30+ free events 11-20 Sept
Chelmsford's Heritage Open Days runs 11 to 20 September: more than 30 free events, from a 1960s day in Tindal Square to a free museum weekend.
Community
Riverside Leisure Centre adds a second Poolpod lift
Poolpod lifts now cover both Riverside pools and South Woodham Ferrers, so disabled swimmers can get into the water independently at any public session.