Artificial Grass and Planning Permission in Chelmsford

What the official guidance says

The Planning Portal’s page on paving your front garden says:

You will not need planning permission if a new or replacement driveway of any size uses permeable (or porous) surfacing which allows water to drain through, such as gravel, permeable concrete block paving or porous asphalt, or if the rainwater is directed to a lawn or border to drain naturally.

Source: Planning Portal, Paving your front garden: planning permission.

If the surface to be covered is more than five square metres planning permission will be needed for laying traditional, impermeable driveways that do not provide for the water to run to a permeable area.

Source: Planning Portal, Paving your front garden: planning permission.

Those lines concern driveways and paved surfaces, and artificial grass is not mentioned anywhere on the page. They describe a hard driveway, so how they bear on a lawn is something to put to the council.

Chelmsford’s own layers

The council keeps lists of conservation areas and of Article 4 Directions, and notes that a direction does not prevent development, but you may need to apply for planning permission for that development. Source: Chelmsford City Council, Article 4 Directions. Flats, maisonettes and some converted houses have different permitted development rights, and the Planning Portal says so on the same page.

Who to ask

• Chelmsford City Council planning, for your address.
• Your freeholder or management company, for flats and managed estates.
• Your deeds or the builder’s paperwork, for covenants on new estates.

This page is general information and not a planning decision.