Category: Community News

Jubilee: 1 Week to Go!

In 1 week, we will be opening the weekend of Jubilee celebrations with the Beacon Lighting Ceremony and the evening will include a Jubilee Raffle, a Cake Decorating Competition, a family Jubilee Trail, some craft activities for children and everyone singing ‘A Life Filled with Grace’ as our amazing Jubilee Beacon is lit.

There will be an ice-cream van on site for the evening, Dan will be playing his guitar in the Jubilee Marquee and all being well there will be someone balloon modelling for the younger attendees 🙂

Don’t forget you can buy your Jubilee Raffle tickets online in advance if you are a Channels resident and if you can’t make the raffle draw on the night, winners will now be allocated a prize at random 🙂

£2 per ticket or £6 per strip of 5 tickets
Raffle Draw in the Jubilee Marquee at Channels Park: 10.00pm on 2nd June

Jubilee: 2 Weeks to Go!

Channels Residents Community Group is proud to be part of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons and Associated Activities and has announced plans to light a Beacon for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on the evening of Thursday, June 2nd, 2022.

The Beacon is one of thousands being lit in the UK and the Commonwealth, and forms part of the official programme announced by Buckingham Palace for the Jubilee Weekend. The Beacon will be lit at Channels Park, and it will be one of over 2,022 lit by charities, communities and faith groups all over the UK.

In addition, beacons will be lit in all 54 Commonwealth capitals and the Principal Beacon lighting will take place in a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Thursday evening. This will take the form of a lighting installation with The Queen’s Green Canopy ‘Tree of Trees’ sculpture and projections onto the front of Buckingham Palace. This innovative new way of taking part in the beacon lighting will reflect the Royal Family’s long history championing environmental causes.

We will be opening the weekend of Jubilee celebrations with the Beacon Lighting Ceremony and the evening will include a Jubilee Raffle, a Cake Decorating Competition, a family Jubilee Trail, some craft activities for children and everyone singing ‘A Life Filled with Grace’ as the beacon is lit.

Over the next two weeks, we will post more detail and reminders about the evening so keep an eye out for updates via the CRCG website, Facebook & Twitter! 🙂

For now, and if you are a Channels Resident, you can buy your Jubilee Raffle tickets online in advance and there are some great prizes to be won!

Bulls Lodge Quarry: Traffic Mitigation Petition

Due to ongoing concerns raised over the excessive noise (and associated pollution) from the 250+ lorries that travel at speed along Channels Drive on a daily basis to/from Bulls Lodge Quarry, and following discussion with the two Parish Councils that cover our development, we have started a petition to push for mitigation measures to be put in place.

https://chng.it/CspqrZzq

As you will see from the petition narrative, Hanson Aggregates who run the quarry have also applied for a license to extend operating times meaning an even greater volume of high-powered, noisy lorries passing through a single route, potentially from 3.30am in the morning including Saturdays.

The video below was taken at circa 7.15am on 19th May 2022 over a period of circa 5 minutes and gives an indication of the speed and underlying thundering noise of these high-powered vehicles. Note how significantly quieter the van towards the end of the video is (this could be regarded as ‘normal traffic’) in comparison.

When signing the petition (and if you are a Channels resident) please enter your locality in the City box i.e. Bellway, The Lanes, Pompadour, The Lakes, Wimbush Waters.

Thanks! 🙂

Jubilee Celebrations!

On 2nd June 2022, we will celebrate another unique milestone in our history, Her Majesty The Queen’s 70th year as our Monarch and Head of the Commonwealth – her Platinum Jubilee.

As a community, we can pay tribute to Her Majesty The Queen as part of the official Platinum Jubilee Weekend of celebrations from 2nd to 5th June 2022 and the CRCG will be kicking off the weekend of activities taking place in the local area with a beacon lighting event in Channels Park.

There will be more information & updates over the coming weeks however for now, you can find a little more about the Platinum Jubilee here and our very own beacon at www.channels.community/jubilee-beacon/

Channels Art Project Event

Discover how time has shaped the place you live!

Further to the update last week, residents are invited to join a walking tour of Channels to learn about the history of where we live from 1pm on Monday 2nd May followed by a ‘hands on’ art workshop with the artist Michael Condron from 2pm. Representatives from GeoEssex will also be in attendance with their specimens and knowledge on full display.

The meeting point will be at the Channels Brasserie front gates (What3Words: buddy.voter.crown):

For those that can’t join the walking tour at 1pm but want to join the art workshop from 2pm, this will be taking place in the Brenda Rose Suite (upstairs) at the Channels Brasserie.

Please do get involved to ensure that the art proposals truly reflect the identity of the area. The input you give to the workshop will form part of the final art that will be on display!

Channels Art: Community Engagement Session

The artist that has been commissioned to develop public art for the Channels development is planning to hold a ‘hands on’ community engagement session on Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May. It has been difficult to secure a date however it is hoped that holding the session on a Bank Holiday might attract more family involvement.

For the event, the artist would like to run a hands-on workshop where participants make artworks by arranging small stones in clay or playdough and representatives from GeoEssex will also be in attendance with their specimens and knowledge on full display.

The provisional plan (which will be dependent on venue availability) is to begin with a walking tour of Channels at 10am so that attendees can learn more about the history of the site with the hands-on workshops beginning at circa 11am.

If demand is high, the artist can schedule additional workshop sessions during the afternoon and if the weather is fine, it may be possible to undertake sessions outside where passers-by can drop in and get involved.

For now, make a note of the date, Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May, and further details will be posted over the next few days.

As a reminder the Project Brief can be viewed or downloaded for information.

The website for the artist can be found at http://mcondron.co.uk/ and he would also like to keep in touch with a circle of residents who would like to remain involved/updated with the public art project.

It is important that as many residents as possible get involved to ensure that the art proposals truly reflect the identity of the area so do please join in with the ongoing community engagement. 🙂

Community Defibrillator Update


Good news! At long last we have been notified that the Community Defibrillator is fully live and registered with the ambulance service. We have a team of volunteers that check the cabinet and equipment on a weekly basis, the majority of which have also received their awareness training.


Is is important to understand how a Community Defibrillator is activated and the core process can be found HERE. The page also contains links to helpful resources and videos.

Our Community Defibrillator is located at the entrance to Channels Park and is visible from the street, the parking area and of course the skate park & play area. The postcode is CM33PY however a more accurate way of pinpointing the location is through the What3Words service. What3Words divides the world into 3 metre squares and gives each square a unique combination of three words. It’s the easiest way to find and share exact locations and is used by the ambulance and other emergency services.

Location (What3Words): yoga.payer.blows

Lastly we are looking to run a further community awareness session (either face to face or via Zoom) in April for residents to attend and further details will be made available in due course.

Thanks to everyone that has contributed to make this project possible 🙂

Andrew Wright & Melanie Williamson
On behalf of the Channels Residents Community Group

Channels Art: Resident Engagement

Resident Engagement Session
Thursday 10th March, 7.00pm via Zoom

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88150918585?pwd=TTA2WTFPdWoyRWQwWWFOM2xHYzhYdz09

Meeting ID: 881 5091 8585
Passcode: 700586

Chelmsford City Council have secured funding to enable the design and integration of public art into the Channels Development, with the aim of enhancing the character and identity of the development – making this a unique and inspiring place of which the local community can be proud.

The CRCG is part of the Public Art Steering Group and we have agreed to arrange an initial online engagement session so that residents can meet the artist and provide feedback as to how the project should progress. The Project Brief can be viewed or downloaded for information.

The session will provide an opportunity for the artist, Michael Condron, to introduce himself and share his thoughts. A representative from GeoEssex will also give a short presentation on “Ice Age Channels” to set the scene as this is will be the general theme for the artwork.

There is information on this website about the local history of Channels and the website for the artist can be found at http://mcondron.co.uk/.

It is important that as many residents as possible get involved during the consultation period to ensure that the art proposals truly reflect the identity of the area and so that we can all take ownership, pride and care in the artwork and associated public open spaces.

Community Defibrillator: Update

The Community Defibrillator was installed at Channels Park in mid December and whilst the equipment is technically ‘live’, it cannot yet be used as we are still waiting for confirmation from the East of England Ambulance Service that they have registered it on their system.

The equipment is being checked on a weekly basis to ensure it is fully operational however it cannot be used until such time that the “AED Not in Service” sign has been removed.

The Defibrillator page on this website has been updated with key information about how a Community Defibrillator is activated and other guidance, including helpful videos.

In advance of wider community awareness training that is being organised, it would be worth becoming familiar with the key information as we could receive notification at any time that the device has been registered meaning it will become fully accessible.


Andrew Wright & Melanie Williamson
On behalf of the Channels Residents Community Group

Building the Community at Channels

By getting involved with people who want to discuss common concerns or local issues, we can make a difference to where we live. One way of achieving this is by working together with other people in the neighbourhood via a Community Group. Our Community Group mission is:

To develop and maintain an all-inclusive, healthy and vibrant community through involvement with residents who want to make a positive difference to where they live.

The aims of the Community Group can be found HERE and the group is recognised by key local stakeholders including Parish Councils, the City Council and Essex County Council.

Some of our achievements and activities over the last 2 years include:

  • Installation of a Community Defibrillator;
  • Successful lobbying for the bridleway to be surfaced and installation of the crossing at the bottom of it brought forward due to safety concerns;
  • Development of Neighbourhood Watch;
  • Development of Community Gardens for all to be involved with and enjoy;
  • Social events & activities
  • Community litter picking;
  • Groups set up for runners & riders;
  • An Essex Lottery ‘good cause’.

We are working on or are involved with the following key projects:

  • Platinum Jubilee Beacons Project (see update below!);
  • Channels Public Art Project;
  • Community Growing Points.

Every resident is considered to be part of the Community Group however we need a working management committee to coordinate and help shape our community both now and for the future.

We currently have a small number of highly committed people supporting and representing Channels residents however it would be fantastic to have a few more committee members, especially from the Croudace & Pompadour localities, to ensure we can take forward some of the great ideas and projects which will benefit everyone in the coming year.

The Jubilee Beacon project (see below) is a good example of where some management & oversight is required and why we need volunteers to be involved in making it all happen.


We have received confirmation from five local organisations of funding to cover the capital cost of a permanent landmark Platinum Jubilee Beacon in Channels Park and we plan to hold a special event for the entire community to celebrate The Queen’s historic reign.

On Thursday 2nd June 2022, Beacons will be lit throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories and if all goes well, ours will be one of them!

If you want to be involved in helping to develop the Channels community, please do express your interest by completing this website form.

%d bloggers like this: