Chelmsford Flood Alleviation Scheme
- Capital Investment - Essex, Southend & Thurrock, Less than £2m, LGF2
Approval Status
Project removed from LGF programme
Delivery Status
Project removed from LGF programme
Expected Completion Date
Project removed from LGF programme
This Environment Agency led 
project is intended to reduce flood risk for existing residential and commercial properties in Chelmsford. The existing Standard of Protection is below 1 in 20 in parts of Chelmsford and there are currently 462 residential and 176 commercial properties at a 1 in 100 risk of flooding each year. In addition, the scheme is intended to reduce flood risk to 13 brownfield and other commercial sites in the town centre which have been identified for development or redevelopment in the Chelmsford Town Centre Area Action Plan 2006.
Project update
The project was considered by Accountability Board on 12th April 2019 and the decision was made to remove the project from the LGF programme. A number of challenges have been encountered in bringing forward this project, including a judicial review of the planning process following challenges to the Environment Agencies powers to access land. Whilst this issue has now been resolved, it has not been possible to complete the modelling work, which is required as part of the Business Case, to the original timetable. In addition, project costs are currently under review. A Business Case for the project has previously been submitted but the high level nature of the Business Case and gaps in information meant that the Business Case did not satisfy SELEP’s Independent Technical Evaluation process. The project has been approved for Flood Defence Grant in Aid funding through the Environment Agency. The LGF funding was only providing a relatively small proportion of the total project cost, however, it is currently unconfirmed by the Environment Agency as to whether the project will progress without the LGF allocation. The £0.8m of LGF funding which was provisionally allocated to the project will be reallocated to LGF3b pipeline projects.
Capital Programme delivery update
Take a look at our update on the delivery of the Local Growth Fund (LGF) and Growing Places Fund (GPF) capital programmes.
£579m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock
In total the SELEP Growth Deal with Government has brought £579m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock. Over the lifetime of the Growth Deal (2015-2021) we aim to deliver 78,000 jobs and 29,000 homes across the SELEP area, with the Deal set to attract a further £960m of investment into the South East over the six year period.