Ridgewell

8°COvercast

• Today: 10° / 7° · 20% rain
• Tomorrow: 11° / 7° · Overcast

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 07:00Sunset 16:22

9h 23m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

23US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Southend-on-Sea, United Kingdom

• 7.0 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
• 5.3% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

1 reported · August 2026

• Criminal damage & arson1

Neighbourhood team: Halstead North · Essex

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

228 reported road collisions (2025)

77 killed or seriously injured · 283 casualties · 14.7 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

8 food businesses within 2 miles

• 8 rated 4–5 ★ (8 top)
• 0 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• Nearest station: Castle Hedingham (6.0 km)
• 0 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£330,089 average▲ 1.6% YoY

Across Braintree · to 2026-08

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,213 average monthly rent▲ 2% YoY

• 1 bed £850
• 2 bed £1,099
• 3 bed £1,354

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-08

9.2× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 9.2 times median annual pay (10.0× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

2,224 property sales in the last 12 months

12 months to May 2026

A busier or quieter market is not by itself good or bad. Monthly counts are small and volatile, so only the annual total is shown.

Source: HM Land Registry UK HPI, 12 months to 2026-05

3 charging locations within ~8 km

• 1 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 50 kW
• Nearest: Haverhill Arts Centre Car Park, Haverhill (7.7 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Sports pitches1
• Playgrounds2

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

• Braintree Town Hall shortlisted for Essex Wedding Award· 4 Nov 2026
• Cost of living programme delivers more than £559,000 financial impact for residents· 29 Oct 2026
• Braintree District celebrates volunteer and sporting heroes· 22 Oct 2026
• Council appeals for information following fly-tipping incident· 21 Oct 2026
• Council vows to continue raising concerns following Secretary of State call-in decision on Rivenhall Incinerator applications· 20 Oct 2026

Source: Braintree Council

155,270 residents in Braintree · 254/km²

• Under 16: 18%
• 16–64: 61%
• 65+: 20%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

• Moves in from elsewhere in the UK10,408
• Moves out to elsewhere in the UK8,406
• Net moves+2,002

Residential moves between local authorities (counts of moves, not people) · ONS Internal migration, YE Jun 2025

Around the average in England

Ranked 164 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

£2,280 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (29% of 71,120)

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

68 schools · 21,326 pupils

52 primary · 8 secondary · 8 other

Ofsted: 30 of 33 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (91%)

63 inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Braintree

1,574 CQC-registered services

• Care homes408
• GP practices229
• Dentists312
• Homecare agencies474
• Hospitals & hospices40

CQC ratings: 88% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 17 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Essex

• Not in the Green Belt
• 51 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

238 applications decided

81.9% granted · 195 granted, 43 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Sir James Cleverly

Conservative

Braintree

Source: UK Parliament

Conservative majority

• Lab 9
• Con 30
• Grn 4
• Ref 1
• Oth 5

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

• Schools1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

7,625 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

£826 median full-time weekly pay

2.8% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£26,019 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

48% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 68,719 certificates

10.1% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

70% low-carbon electricity

Wind 44% · Gas 29% · Nuclear 17% · Biomass 9%

125 gCO₂/kWh · moderate intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 83.9 yrs women · 80.5 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy (Essex): 62.4 women · 62.7 men

75% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.3
• Feeling worthwhile7.7
• Happiness yesterday7.6
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.1

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

3 GP surgeries · 4 pharmacies in CO9

• The Elizabeth Courtauld Surgery
• Hedingham Medical Centre
• Halstead Hospital Ward

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Braintree:

• Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth295 local signatures · 113,305 nationwide
• Launch a public inquiry into illegal migration in the UK232 local signatures · 78,478 nationwide
• Protect legal right to support for children with SEND215 local signatures · 111,357 nationwide
• Support the Ceramics Industry and protect British manufacturing jobs and skills160 local signatures · 111,154 nationwide
• Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases158 local signatures · 105,832 nationwide

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-10-05

• Whitley railway station · 1.7 km

  Whitley railway station was a temporary station on the former Colne Valley and Halstead Railway, three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) to the east of the village of Birdbrook, Essex. It opened in 1862 and closed in Octobe…

• 
  Birdbrook railway station · 2.3 km

  Birdbrook railway station was located 0.7 miles (1.1 km) to the northeast of the village of Birdbrook, Essex. It was 65 miles 74 chains from London Liverpool Street via Marks Tey. It opened in 1863 as the replacement…

• Stambourne Hall · 2.5 km

  Stambourne Hall is a country house within the civil parish of Stambourne, Essex, England. It lies to behind to the northeast of St. Peter & St. Thomas's Church, Stambourne. Stambourne Hall is recorded in the National…

• 
  Tilbury Juxta Clare · 2.5 km

  Tilbury Juxta Clare is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England, close to the northern boundary of the county with Suffolk. It lies 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the larger village of Great Ye…

• 
  Stambourne · 2.6 km

  Stambourne is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District in north Essex, England. It lies 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Halstead, its post town. Stambourne's closest neighbouring villages are Ridgewell, Topp…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)