When determining planning applications, the Council will carefully balance the requirement for new development within the countryside to meet identified development needs in accordance with the Spatial Strategy, and to support thriving rural communities whilst ensuring that development does not have an adverse impact on the different roles and character of the countryside. All new development within the countryside will be considered within this context and against the specific planning objectives for each of the following areas:

Green Belt

The openness and permanence of the Green Belt will be protected and opportunities for its beneficial use will be supported where consistent with the purposes of the Green Belt. Inappropriate development will not be approved except in very special circumstances.

Green Wedge

The Green Wedge has an identified intrinsic character and beauty and is a multi-faceted distinctive landscape providing important open green networks, which have been instrumental in shaping the City’s growth, character and appearance. These networks prevent urban sprawl and settlement coalescence and provide for wildlife, flood storage capacity, leisure and recreation, and travel by cycling and walking, which allows for good public access which will be further improved through the requirements of development allocated in the Local Plan. Development which materially harms the role, function and intrinsic character and beauty of the Green Wedge will not be approved.

Rural Area

The countryside outside of the Urban Areas and Defined Settlements, not within the Green Belt, is designated as the Rural Area. The intrinsic character and beauty of the Rural Area outside of the Green Belt, and not designated as the Green Wedge, will be recognised, assessed and development will be permitted where it would not adversely impact on its identified character and beauty.

The relevant Development Management Policies set out what development is appropriate in each of the above areas and provide detailed criteria by which development proposals will be assessed.

For more information, please visit Chelmsford’s Local Plan here.