Understanding planning · 13 min read
Planning application documents: what to read first
Understand planning application documents, officer reports and decision notices. Use a reading checklist, document table and worked example to inspect a case.
England · Local authority
Explore collected planning applications and decisions for Durham County Council. Search an address, application reference or proposal to find a record.
11,549 approved · 624 refused · 644 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 3 Oct 2013 to 15 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 17 Oct 2026. Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.
Contact details were found on council pages. Check the source for opening hours and which enquiries the service handles.
Explore published planning boundaries and follow their source records for designation details. Coverage varies: an empty map does not mean there are no restrictions. Check the council’s current maps and documents before relying on a boundary.
Interactive planning map loads with JavaScript. Dataset sources are linked below.
Download Article 4 coverage for all authorities (CSV)
Data downloaded 14 Sept 2026. Display boundaries are simplified and indicative. Map record counts are not a complete count of designations or directions.
Sources: Planning Data conservation areas and Article 4 direction areas. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
East Byre Bowes Barnard Castle DL12 9HU
Received 24 Mar 202614 Sherburn Road Durham DH1 2JR
Received 24 Mar 2026Aberford Vyners Close Spennymoor DL16 7HB
Received 24 Mar 2026Land To The South Of North Lodge Burn Hall Durham DH1 3SU
Received 24 Mar 2026Bridge End Cottage 4 Bridge End Frosterley Bishop Auckland DL13 2SN
Received 24 Mar 20263 Festival Walk Spennymoor DL16 6AB
Received 24 Mar 202652 Roast Calf Lane Bishop Middleham Ferryhill DL17 9AT
Received 24 Mar 202621 Birchmere Spennymoor DL16 6TU
Received 24 Mar 2026120B Front Street Chester-le-Street DH3 3BA
Received 24 Mar 2026Binchester Roman Fort Binchester DL14 8DJ
Received 20 Mar 2026Land South Of 12 The Hayricks Tanfield DH9 9QP
Received 24 Mar 2026Plot 18 Dunelm Stables Thornley Durham DH6 3BN
Received 25 Mar 2026The Coach House Derwentcote Farm Hamsterley Colliery Newcastle Upon Tyne NE17 7RR
Received 25 Mar 2026Haystax Holiday Park Longedge Lane Consett DH8 9BY
Received 25 Mar 20266 - 7 Market Place Durham DH1 3HL
Received 25 Mar 20266 - 7 Market Place Durham DH1 3HL
Received 25 Mar 20268 Silver Street Wolsingham Bishop Auckland DL13 3EJ
Received 25 Mar 20262 The College Durham DH1 3EQ
Received 25 Mar 202669 Gilesgate Durham DH1 1HY
Received 25 Mar 2026Whitechurch 29 Church Street Head Durham DH1 3DN
Received 25 Mar 20261 Foresters Cottages Hamilton Row Waterhouses Durham DH7 9AX
Received 26 Mar 2026Plot 43 Dunelm Stables Thornley DH6 3BN
Received 25 Mar 2026Land To The East And South Of Apperley Avenue High Shincliffe DH1 2TY
Received 26 Mar 2026Peterlee Town Council Shotton Hall Old Shotton Peterlee SR8 2PH
Received 26 Mar 2026Records are ordered by application ID, not submission date. Use search to find a particular address or proposal.
View all applicationsStart with the address or application reference. Open a record to read the proposal, dates and available documents, then check the official register for the latest plans and consultation details. If nothing appears, check coverage before treating the result as a complete planning history.
How to search planning applications
Understanding planning · 13 min read
Understand planning application documents, officer reports and decision notices. Use a reading checklist, document table and worked example to inspect a case.

Understanding planning · 13 min read
Read planning drawings, floor plans, elevations and sections. Use labelled diagrams, a drawing comparison table and revision checks to understand a proposal.

Property research · 13 min read
Understand planning approval rates with an interactive calculator, worked examples and comparison table. Check sample sizes, outcomes and coverage before comparing.
These figures describe applications collected by PlanningTrack for Durham County Council, across all dates currently available. They are a partial dataset, rather than an authority-wide performance measure. The date range does not establish continuous historical coverage.
The approval percentage is approved records divided by approved plus refused records. Pending, withdrawn and unknown outcomes are excluded. No percentage is shown until there is an approved or refused record.
Check collection coverage