Environmental funding to help make Chelmsford greener

Today, Chelmsford City Council is launching two grants to help local community and voluntary groups to provide important infrastructure in the city’s urban areas and protect our threatened environment.

The first, the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) grants provide capital funding for infrastructure to meet the demands placed on the Chelmsford urban area by development. This could be green infrastructure like sustainable energy, capital projects that provide social infrastructure, or built infrastructure like buildings and paths.

The second, the Greener Chelmsford Grants make £100,000 available for projects that address the climate and ecological emergency in Chelmsford.

Applications are more likely to be successful if they are for projects which protect and enhance wildlife and green infrastructure, lower energy consumption, reduce waste or lower carbon emissions. These are the priorities set out by the council for addressing climate change and ecological crises.

Councillor Rose Moore, Cabinet Member for Greener and Safer Chelmsford, said, “The Greener Chelmsford Grants are one of the many actions being taken by the City Council to deal with the Climate & Ecological Emergency declared in 2019. Everybody in Chelmsford and beyond needs to play their part if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change and these grants recognise organisations which are putting great effort into doing their bit.”

How to apply

The two grants are part of the Community Funding Scheme, which also includes discretionary funding for projects that help vulnerable people in Chelmsford. This third set of grants will open for applications in October.

The deadline for applications for the Greener Chelmsford Grants and the CIL Grants is 30 September. You can check the full criteria and apply online now via the Chelmsford City Council website.