Springfield Parish Council

Community - Background to the building of the Parish Centre

Following the extension of The Bishops School the Essex County Council identified two areas of surplus land on the above site.

An outline planning permission was obtained for residential development of part of the site and under normal circumstances this would have been granted and the land would have been sold for development.

However, at that stage Springfield Parish Council who had been approached by groups who were having difficulty finding venues for their activities sought to keep the site purely for community use. This was the last open area of greenfield site available in the Parish following the massive North Springfield and Chelmer Village developments and there was an identified shortfall of open space/community facilities.

The main thrust having come from the Springfield Parish Council, encouraged the opportunity of consulting all the interested parties, ie, The Bishops School, Essex County Council, Chelmsford Borough Council, St. Augustine’s Church and Springfield Parish Council with a view to agree to a proposal which would try to meet the aspirations of all parties.

At the time The Bishops school playing field was sited in the centre of the overall site and one of the early agreements was for the field to be moved to the west end of the site, which would give the field enough room to be used for Junior Football.

1. Land to the east of the Bishops’ School will be sold to the Diocesan authorities for use as informal recreation space by the school.
2. A formal detached field at dimensions agreed with Chelmsford Borough Council to be constructed at the western end of the site. This would be a joint use facility, being used by the school during weekdays for formal games and available for Community use in the evenings and Saturdays, excluding Sundays.
3. An area is identified for disposal as residential development site. An access road to serve the western sites will be via the existing access by the Church of St.Augustine.
4. The central area of the site is identified for community use, including a hall and relevant car parking. This site is to be purchased by the Springfield Parish Council.
5. An area of approximately 0.09 ha is reserved for a future library building. Alternatively, if the library site is not required the 0.09 ha will be sold for residential development.

The Bishops School – will have the opportunity to purchase 0.4 hectares of land adjacent to their existing soft play area, to be used as a playground. At the same time the school will be able to have the use of a detached playing field, together with appropriate changing facilities, to the west of the site.

Church of St. Augustine – will be assured, in the future, of community related uses, in the form of a Community Hall and possibly a library, as adjoining neighbours as opposed to a playing field.

Springfield Parish Council – will have the opportunity to purchase an area of land for the much needed Community Hall, to serve this part of the Springfield area. This facility will have the ability to cater for local and other community groups.

Chelmsford Borough Council – will be able to acquire interest in the use of the playing field, to the west of the site, that will meet the requirements of a joint use facility with the Bishops School, to the appropriate junior playing field size.

Essex County Council – will have the opportunity to provide the required public library in this area. The County Council will also be able to give priority to the provision of community land use and only use a small area remaining for residential development.