Project details

Our current site at Writtle Road is reaching its burial capacity with around four years of burials remaining. This means we need a new burial site so we can continue to provide this service for the city and the surrounding area. Additionally, the cremators at Writtle Road, first commissioned in 2011, are reaching the end of their life span.

Since we built the Writtle Road site, the standards and expectations for bereavement facilities have risen. The proposed new facility will allow us to meet these, and provide Chelmsford with modern bereavement infrastructure.

By building a new crematorium while still operating the existing site, we could still accommodate services at Writtle Road, without disrupting services and maintaining the tranquility of the cemetery.

The site is intended to be multi-faith and inclusive, similar to the current site at Writtle Road Cemetery and Crematorium. It will be designed to support people from different faiths, beliefs and backgrounds, with cemetery and crematorium facilities available for a range of funeral and memorial needs.

Completed stages

We have consulted with planning officers, their design review board, and Essex Highways. This has helped to better shape our final design and planning approach for the proposal.

We have also completed a variety of surveys and assessments of the site. This is to help us make sure we have a good understanding of the site and issues such as:

• ecology

• tree locations/conditions

• noise

• green belt

• landscape

• traffic/highways

• drainage

This work has informed the final design to ensure we minimise any impacts to the surrounding area, local traffic, landscape views, and wildlife.

Current stage

We are now at the stage of carrying out pre-planning consultation to collect feedback from the public and key stakeholders.

We will review and consider any feedback as we develop the proposals. Where appropriate, comments from residents, stakeholders and visitors may help inform alterations to the design before any planning application progresses.

We are also finalising aspects such as:

• architectural and landscape design works

• highways and drainage considerations

• Biodiversity Net Gain opportunities

Future stages

After we have completed the pre-planning consultation process, we will submit a planning application in autumn 2026, taking into account any views we have received.

We expect the Planning Committee to consider the application in early 2027. The Committee will assess the proposals against relevant planning policies, including any applicable policies in the Neighbourhood Plan. This assessment will form part of the planning application process and will consider how the development relates to the local area.

If the Committee approves the scheme, we estimate that work could start later that year. This timeline includes considerations of informative notes and the discharge of conditions.

The site could be completed towards the end of 2028. We estimate that burials at the site would start after building work has finished, to account for the settlement of the burial ground. Meanwhile, the crematorium would be operational as soon as any construction is complete.

The exact opening date would depend entirely on the outcome of the planning process and the final construction programme.

However, gaining planning permission would not commit us to delivering the project. Any future decision to acquire the site, fund construction and proceed with delivery would be considered separately by Cabinet and Full Council following the planning process and development of a final business case.

Location

The proposed site is on land east of Stock Road, West Hanningfield, Chelmsford, CM2 8LF.

We have identified this location as the most suitable site within the Chelmsford area. Our Planning officers will also independently assess the application through the planning application process, according to national defined standards.

The site is surrounded by the A12 to the north, agricultural land to the east, a static home park to the south and Stock Road to the west. We have taken the surrounding uses into account as part of the site layout and the overall design approach.

Size

The proposed site is approximately 22 acres.

Features

The proposal will deliver the burial grounds in two phases, with the east burial ground being used following the completion of the development and the southern burial ground once the east one is at capacity. Together, these burial grounds would provide approximately 100 years of burial capacity for the city and surrounding areas. 

The public-facing half of the facility would include two chapels. The east chapel would have a capacity of 150 people, and the west chapel would have a capacity of 50 people. This would allow the facility to accommodate a variety of ceremony sizes, with a maximum capacity of 200 people if using the west chapel to livestream the service from the east chapel. Standing spaces in the lobby would also be available for very well attended services.

The operational half of the building is also planned to include:

• new offices for the bereavement service

• a maintenance yard

• a workshop for the ground workers

• a cremator room with the capacity for three units

This will ensure the facility has capacity for the projected population of the city over the coming decades. This portion of the building would also provide a family meeting room, located away from the chapels, to give families privacy whilst making funeral and memorial arrangements with the bereavement service team.

The landscaping of the site would provide enhancements to the existing boundary treatments to provide further screening from the surrounding area and improve current habitats. Meanwhile, the landscaping throughout the site forms a peaceful environment associated with cemeteries.

If the development of this site goes ahead, the opening times for the Cemetery and Crematorium would vary depending on the season.

Operating hours

Cremation services would be available Monday to Friday during off-peak hours (9.30am to 4.30pm). These would be the same operating hours as the current burial service at the cemetery.

Opening hours

This refer to when the grounds are open for visitors to pay their respects.

Summer (1 April to 30 September):

• Monday to Friday, 9am to 6.30pm (6.15pm for the crematorium building)

• Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 6.30pm (6.15pm for the crematorium building)

Winter (1 October to 30 March):

• Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm (3.15pm for the crematorium building)

• Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 4pm (3.15pm for the crematorium building)

Well-attended funerals

The site would be able to manage well-attended funerals through the planned parking provision, including the overflow car park. We would advise funeral directors of the available parking arrangements, and funeral timings would be staggered so that two funerals do not take place at the same time.

Cremated remains

The cremated remains area would provide space for ash interments. This would allow families to choose a dedicated and respectful location within the cemetery for cremated remains, forming part of the wider memorial and landscaped areas on the site.

The site would provide 125 standard parking spaces and 17 disabled parking spaces. There would also be around 50 overspill parking spaces to help manage busier services or larger gatherings.

Traffic would be managed through the site access arrangements and the proposed highway layout. A turning point in the middle of the road is proposed to help prevent congestion when vehicles turn right into the site, supporting safer and smoother access for visitors.

Sustainable travel

The Bakers Lane bus stops are located within walking distance of the site, providing opportunities for visitors to travel by public transport. The north-bound stop is located 50m away from the site entrance and the south bound is located 200m away. The 300 bus route runs between Chelmsford and Basildon every 20 minutes, and the 13/13b bus route provides connections between Chelmsford and Wickford once an hour.

The site would also provide cycle parking at both the staff and public entrances.

Proposals for the new crematorium on the site follow stringent planning and environmental controls, which strictly limits its effect on the surrounding area. The proposed development complies with regulations and guidelines, as the proposed facility is at least 200 yards away from the surrounding dwellings.

Noise

We expect there to be minimal noise once any construction is complete. The site would primarily be used for funerals, cremations and quiet visits to graves or memorial areas, so day-to-day activity will be calm and respectful in nature.

There will be no late-night activities taking place on site. Funeral services and operational activities would take place during the stated daytime operating hours, helping to avoid disturbance to nearby residents during the evening and overnight periods.

Emissions

Modern filtration equipment means crematoria are now significantly more environmentally friendly than in the past. There are strict abatement and emissions controls that govern crematoria, including ensuring that there will be no smoke or odours.

We are proposing to install electric cremators at the site. These operate on a green electricity tariff, so do not release any CO2 emissions from the fuel source. Specialist equipment attached to the cremator will process and filter 99.9% of particulates out of the exhaust flow. We will commission dispersion modelling in the coming months to informed the design and height of the stack.

Emissions from the cremators are monitored through process guidance notes which are set by DEFRA.

We will follow DEFRA's national guidelines, which set out how we monitor emissions from the cremators.

The development will increase the quality and quantity of publicly accessible green space in the local area by replacing the current ploughed field with grassed areas, planting and landscaped features. New trees and flowers would be introduced, helping to create a more attractive and ecologically beneficial environment.

The vision for this scheme demonstrates our commitment to provide biodiversity enhancements as a part of this project. This might include:

• habitat features and measures to support wildlife species

• improved links between existing green spaces and habitats

• creating opportunities for learning about nature

Natural and native landscaping would be focused along the boundaries of the site, enhancing the existing landscape of trees and hedgerows. This provides the added benefit of enhancing the habitats for local wildlife and screening the site from the surrounding area.

Within the memorial gardens and surrounding the crematorium, more formal landscaping would be planted to create a tranquil environment for people to visit their loved ones.

The planting plan uses a carefully selected mix of native species chosen to enhance local ecology. The approach is intended to significantly improve Biodiversity Net Gain, achieving well above the required 10% uplift, while creating a suitable landscape setting for the cemetery.

Drainage and groundwater

Drainage on the site would be managed through an attenuation pond located in the northwest corner. This will help manage surface water as part of the wider drainage strategy for the development.

The development is not expected to have an adverse impact on groundwater. We have carefully considered this matter through the technical information we will submit with the planning application to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.