Latest news with #ChelmsfordCityCouncil
The Sun
5 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Once-thriving Debenhams store loved in the 90s to be transformed into cinema, gym & hundreds of homes
A DEBENHAMS that was once a bustling shopping hub is set to be transformed into a co-living space. The former store is set to be demolished and replaced by a ten-storey block with a cinema, gym and podcast studio. 2 Similar to student halls, the plan submitted to Chelmsford City Council envisages 181 single-occupancy rooms. If approved, each room will have a bed, kitchenette and an ensuite bathroom. They will also have a wardrobe, desk and storage. The communal spaces will contain facilities like a lounge, co-working space, event space, a gym, cinema and podcast studio. The shared areas will be available to the public on an invite-only basis. The vision for the development is to provide young professionals with affordable living spaces. Co-living housing is a new concept that is defined by a large-scale purpose-built shared accommodation. In cities, there has been a rise in single people and couples living in warehouses and large disused buildings for cheap rent. Savills have said that co-living schemes are a way to tackle the cripling housing crisis by "offering shared affordable, high quality accommodation, predominantly for 18 to 40-year-olds, with fully furnished private living units, communal areas and often flexible working space'. A planning statement said: 'The site sits in a primary location within the Chelmsford City Centre, opposite the River Chelmer and within walking distance to Chelmsford High Street, and to both Chelmsford train station and bus station. It was formerly in use as the servicing block to the adjacent Debenhams department store. "However, it is now redundant with limited scope for it to be brought back into use for retail servicing. "On this basis, it presents as a highly sustainable brownfield site with substantial scope to enhance and contribute towards the wider strategic goals of Chelmsford." This comes after another former Debenhams was given a new lease of life as an entertainment venue. After the business went into administration in 2020, hundreds of the huge department stores were left empty on UK high streets. Now, one of the abandoned stores has been completely transformed into the ultimate entertainment space. The Debenhams in Midsummer Place, Milton Keynes has been revamped by entertainment company Lane 7. The 40,000 square foot space has been kitted out with a bowling alley, roller skating rink, golf simulators, bumper cars, pool tables and a gaming experience. Lane 7's Luke Harvey said: "The culture of what people want from their nights out has changed a lot recently, the shift from being a drinking culture has stopped a little bit, especially for 18-24 year olds. "People want a little more from their nights out; they don't necessarily want to go to a nightclub anymore. "They want something fun and something they can do with a range of different friends and families." Since opening in March, the venue has seen about 2,300 visitors on its busiest days which are usually Friday nights and evenings. The entertainment company has taken over the ground floor, while Sports Direct occupies the upper floors. Although shoppers can still buy from Debenhams online, all of its 124 beloved high street stores closed down because of falling profits and rising debt. The financial problems were triggered by a combination of consumers moving online, as well as Covid lockdowns which stalled profits. Across the country, councils and developers have been repurposing former Debenhams stores. One in Northampton was demolished and replaced by student housing in October 2024, a fate that will follow for the two other stores left in the city. 2
BBC News
02-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Go-ahead for former shop near Chelmsford to become Hindu temple
Permission to turn a former shop into a Hindu temple has been application to convert a building on Beehive Lane in Great Baddow was approved by Chelmsford City Council on Hindu community used to meet at Quakers Meeting House in Rainsford but that space was available to the community only at Rajesh, chair of Chelmsford Hindu Society, said: "Temple is not just a place of worship – it is a place [for] the community [to get] together." She said the temple would help older people who might be lonely and younger people who wanted to learn about their society raised £600,000 for the building. About £200,000 has come from donations and about £400,000 is in the form of loans from supporters of the for the deities was covered by the Chelmsford Hindu Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Baddow Road has offered to share its car park with the temple. Ms Rajesh said she hoped the temple would open in about a month's time."We are elated. We can hardly believe it," she said."It's only now that we have come to this space [that] we have a temple in Chelmsford."The temple will also act as a community centre with yoga and dance classes, among other things, open to people from all faiths. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Estate's horse carriage rides to end after 17 years
Popular horse and carriage rides will end at a stately home after 17 years. Hawthorn Heavy Horses has been working at Hylands House near Chelmsford, Essex, after receiving Heritage Lottery funding. It blamed financial pressures and recently losing horses to retirement behind the decision to stop the carriage rides. In a statement, it said, "now is the time to stop", but the team would remain on site "in other capacities". "Whilst we have loved almost every minute of what we have done, the stark realities of running a working horse business in the current financial climate is not one to be taken lightly," it added. Over the years, six horses have been providing carriage rides for tens of thousands of people, and were used at weddings, birthday parties and Hylands events such as farmers' markets, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Hawthorn Heavy Horses said it would work with Chelmsford City Council, which owns Hylands estate, to oversee other horses working on the site for woodland management and events. The horses have helped make significant improvements to the estate's woodlands through coppicing and thinning, as well as shifting timber to sell on as local sustainable firewood or products such as planks and beams. "It is very much hoped that horses will still be making a regular appearance in the park, both to continue the woodland management but also for events," the statement continued. "The council's estate volunteers are already doing an excellent job in the woods and taking care of many of the projects that we started, and other contractors are being lined up to undertake some of the bigger tasks." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. New music festival proposed for city park Plan to restrict dogs at country park approved High rope course agreed for country estate Chelmsford City Council
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Estate's horse carriage rides to end after 17 years
Popular horse and carriage rides will end at a stately home after 17 years. Hawthorn Heavy Horses has been working at Hylands House near Chelmsford, Essex, after receiving Heritage Lottery funding. It blamed financial pressures and recently losing horses to retirement behind the decision to stop the carriage rides. In a statement, it said, "now is the time to stop", but the team would remain on site "in other capacities". "Whilst we have loved almost every minute of what we have done, the stark realities of running a working horse business in the current financial climate is not one to be taken lightly," it added. Over the years, six horses have been providing carriage rides for tens of thousands of people, and were used at weddings, birthday parties and Hylands events such as farmers' markets, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Hawthorn Heavy Horses said it would work with Chelmsford City Council, which owns Hylands estate, to oversee other horses working on the site for woodland management and events. The horses have helped make significant improvements to the estate's woodlands through coppicing and thinning, as well as shifting timber to sell on as local sustainable firewood or products such as planks and beams. "It is very much hoped that horses will still be making a regular appearance in the park, both to continue the woodland management but also for events," the statement continued. "The council's estate volunteers are already doing an excellent job in the woods and taking care of many of the projects that we started, and other contractors are being lined up to undertake some of the bigger tasks." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. New music festival proposed for city park Plan to restrict dogs at country park approved High rope course agreed for country estate Chelmsford City Council
BBC News
24-02-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Reorganisation costs not part of Chelmsford City Council's budget
Chelmsford City Council has set its budget for the upcoming financial year, despite uncertainty over the costs of local government members approved the budget, which will see its share of council tax rise by 2.96% – an annual increase of £6.55 for a Band D budget for 2025/26 is balanced, although the financial impact of abolishing the council and merging the city's services into a larger unitary authority covering more of Essex has not been authority said the government expected councils to bear the financial burden of the changes, which "could be several million pounds". Earlier this month, Greater Essex was accepted into the government's Devolution Priority Programme following a bid by Essex, Southend and Thurrock means that over the next two to three years, the 15 existing Essex councils will merge into possibly five larger unitary councils, although the boundaries of these larger councils and how many will actually be formed have not been determined City Council said the new system the government intended to use to calculate funding would be likely to reduce the amount the council received in grants and business rates, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Davidson, the authority's cabinet member for finance, said: "Council tax is a significant and valued part of our funding, but it's only paying for just over a fifth of the services we deliver."That doesn't even cover all those [services] we legally have to provide, like black bin collections, street cleaning and helping homeless families."As part of the budget, the council will start to charge for green said introducing charges for brown bin collections helped fund services not legally required, such as swimming pools, leisure centres and the city's museum."With government support expected to reduce even further over the next few years and the cost of reorganisation unknown, the choice is stark – charge, as most other councils already do, or cut services," he said. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
