Chelmsford Garden Community is a strategically important growth area responding to the city’s long-term need for new homes, community infrastructure and accessible open space. Zone 2 forms the final piece of the outline planning framework, designed to connect with the adjoining communities at Zones 1 and 3 and the established and emerging award-winning neighbourhoods at Beaulieu and Channels.
The 3,500 homes will be delivered across three new villages – Park Farm, Willow Hill and Hawthorn – which will each carry their own identity and mix of uses. Park Farm takes on a civic focus, with 1,259 homes arranged around a pedestrian square; Willow Hill features 563 homes and takes its cues from the area’s historic field patterns, with green corridors and tree-lined routes framing buildings that draw on traditional farmstead forms; and 1,876 lower-density homes at Hawthorn sit alongside Dukes Wood Nature Park with softer edges that reflect the character of the surrounding countryside, with potential to repurpose historic wartime structures as local landmarks.
Three primary schools, a secondary school, nursery provision, employment hubs, mobility hubs, co-working, retail and flexible community spaces are distributed across the three villages, ensuring the new community is supported with the infrastructure it needs from the outset.
The proposals set aside 130 hectares of open space – anchored by the 105-hectare Dukes Wood Nature Park – forming a green spine that connects all three villages. Green corridors and tree-lined streets support biodiversity and encourage everyday walking and cycling, while Park Farm Meadows delivers a new destination play park at the heart of the neighbourhood.
JTP has worked closely with Chelmsford City Council, Essex County Council and a wide range of local stakeholders to shape the masterplan over many years, with engagement directly informing the character, layout and mix of uses across each village.
