Chelmsford is preparing for a development bonanza of housing, leisure, commerce and healthcare facilities worth nearly a billion pounds.

Assorted major developments are currently in the pipeline which will transform the county town within the next decade. On Tuesday planners will be asked to approve a four-deck 700-capacity staff car park at Broomfield Hospital as part of its £100 million expansion.

Another 800-car multi-storey car park is being progressed adjacent to the Chelmer in Baddow Road, with details just awaiting final approval by Chelmsford Borough Council's cabinet. The cabinet is also set to agree a 'concept' statement for the Waterside area where the Chelmer and Can rivers converge.

Options for the Waterside site included a new feature waterfront building which will need protection from flooding. An alternative is to leave floodable land as public open space up to the river but reduce floorspace for the proposed blend of business and housing development.

The long-awaited redevelopment of land between Waterloo Lane and the Springfield Road branch of Tesco has recently been approved.

Planning officer Roy Chandler said he hopes the two-phase £80 million development of the land by Aquila House will act as an incentive to other landowners to get together with developers for the rest of the site, beside the river Chelmer behind the High Street.

"We have great hopes for that area which is largely wasted as surface car parking at the moment. Currently there is little enhancement to the river frontage. We want to bring that riverside back to life and think it is crucial to any development," he said.

A £150 million project to scrap the 1970s Market Road multi-storey car park to replace it with shops and new parking for High Chelmer and a new home in Market Road for the retail market are also in the pipeline.

Projects to sweep away the gasworks on the opposite bank of the river ready for homes, leisure, shops and offices have also been made public by SecondSite National Grid Transco worth around £150 million.

Published Friday September 10, 2004

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