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.
Up to 185 homes and 60 independent living flats for older people can be built on the former St Peter’s College site off Fox Crescent. Chelmsford City Council’s Planning Committee backed the outline application on Tuesday 6 October.
The council announced the approval on 9 October (Chelmsford City Council). The formal permission has not been issued yet. The officers’ report recommended approval subject to conditions and a signed section 106 legal agreement, and the planning register still showed no decision date on Tuesday 13 October.
The applicant is Essex Housing Development LLP, the development arm of Essex County Council, which owns the land. The application, 24/00228/OUT, was validated in February 2024, so it has taken two years and eight months to reach a decision.
What the scheme includes
The committee report lists the outline proposal as:
- up to 185 homes
- up to 60 extra care or independent living homes for older people
- community space and flexible workspace, with land handed to the city council for a community centre
- open space and play areas, including a linear green park through the middle of the site
- two vehicle entrances off Fox Crescent, plus foot and cycle links to Hobart Close and Highfield Road
All of it is in outline. Layout, house types and heights come later, in “reserved matters” applications that go through planning again (Planning Committee report, item 7, 6 October 2026).
How many will be affordable
78 homes will be affordable, according to the heads of terms agreed for the legal agreement:
| Tenure | Homes |
|---|---|
| Affordable rent | 54 |
| Shared ownership | 24 |
| Total | 78 |
That is 35% of the 185 homes and 22% of the 60 extra care flats. The report shows the sum: 64.75 plus 13.2, rounded up to 78. Ten plots, 5% of the homes, are kept for self-build or custom build.
Half of all the homes must be built to the accessible and adaptable standard. Five per cent of the affordable homes must be suitable for wheelchair users.
The playing fields will not be replaced
The site is mostly the old school playing fields, unused for more than ten years. Sport England objected to losing them unless replacement sports provision was paid for.
Essex Housing disagreed with the sum Sport England sought. The council agreed £496,279 instead, for sport at Melbourne Park. The report accepts this is “not in the form or degree” the Local Plan’s wording envisaged. It judges it appropriate because the land is allocated for housing and has not been used as playing fields for a decade.
Schools, GPs and roads
Essex County Council asked for no money for school places. It told the council there is enough capacity for early years, primary, secondary and sixth form pupils, and for school transport. It asked for £19,061 for libraries.
The Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board said the homes would add demand on local GP services. It asked for £121,500 for extra healthcare capacity, and the report says a health contribution will be secured in the legal agreement.
The county council, as highway authority, did not object. Its conclusion was that the scheme would not harm road safety or capacity, once the agreed mitigation is in place. On Fox Crescent itself:
- the lay-by will be extended to make six parking spaces
- some on-street parking will be restricted to make room for the two new junctions
- traffic calming and visibility splays are in the agreed highway works
The council says the Fox Crescent work is proposed early in the build, to limit disruption.
Only three people commented
The council received three representations in more than two and a half years. One came from a resident objecting, one from a resident who was neutral, and one was a joint comment from the three local councillors. They raised:
- traffic and road capacity
- GP and school capacity
- open space and a community centre
- drainage and flood risk
- air quality
The 1939 school building stays
St Peter’s College opened in 1939 as Rainsford Secondary School, built for the Boarded Barns estate. Every building on the site has been demolished except the central two-storey part of the original school, facing Fox Crescent.
The report treats it as a non-designated heritage asset. The outline plans keep it and show it possibly converted into four flats. Officers warn that three-storey buildings either side of it “would likely be unacceptable”.
The southern part of the old school grounds is already in use. Two special schools, Sir Geoff Hurst Academy and The Hawthorns School, have been built there and are open.
Trees
The developer must plant 555 trees, three per home, or pay in lieu. Building the access roads means removing two individual trees and parts of three low-quality groups. The best trees, including several mature and veteran oaks on the boundaries, are to be kept.
What it means for you
- If you live on Fox Crescent, expect the junction and lay-by work early, before most of the houses. The parking restrictions will come with it.
- If you are on the housing register, 54 homes for affordable rent and 24 for shared ownership are part of the deal. No date has been given for when they will be let.
- If you want a say on the design, watch for reserved matters applications under the same site name. Each will be a fresh application on the planning register. Our Chelmsford planning news page tracks the city’s big schemes.
- No date for building work has been given.
The site is one of the strategic growth sites in the adopted Local Plan, which is now being reviewed. Hearings into the new plan start in November; the dates are on our Local Plan hearings page.
Sources
- Chelmsford City Council, “New homes given the go ahead on former Chelmsford school site”, 9 October 2026, for the approval, the parking bays and the early Fox Crescent works.
- Chelmsford City Council Planning Committee, 6 October 2026, item 7: report on 24/00228/OUT, for the proposal, the recommendation, the affordable housing sums, the consultation responses, the £496,279, £121,500 and £19,061 figures, the representations, the heritage assessment and the tree numbers.
- Chelmsford planning register, case 24/00228/OUT, read 13 October 2026, for the applicant, validation date, committee date and the absence of a decision date.
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