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 · County council
Explore collected planning applications and decisions for Essex County Council. Search an address, application reference or proposal to find a record.
6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 5 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 13 Oct 2026. Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.
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.
A boundary map is not available for this authority yet. Use council conservation-area and Article 4 guidance above where linked.
Download Article 4 coverage for all authorities (CSV)
Sources: Planning Data conservation areas and Article 4 direction areas. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Southminster Hall,Goldsands Road,Southminster,CM0 7JR
Received 26 Feb 2008Shire Hall and Associated buildings,Tindal Square,Chelmsford,CM1 1RA
Received 18 Jun 2002Land at Weald Place Farm, Duck Lane, Thornwood, Essex
Received 28 Jun 2013Purford Green Primary School,Purford Green,Harlow,CM18 6HP
Received 4 Jun 2010The Tyrrells School,Tavistock Road,Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6JN
Received 23 Mar 2009Beaulieu Park Education Campus site, Beaulieu, Chelmsford
Received 9 Aug 2018Theydon Bois County Primary School,Orchard Drive,Theydon Bois,Epping,CM16 7DF
Received 19 Jul 2002John Ray Junior School,Notley High School,Notley Road,Braintree,CM7 1HL
Received 25 Feb 2010Lakelands Primary School, Land off Wagtail Mews, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 8AL
Received 6 Jan 2020Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Essex, CB11 3RX
Received 24 May 2017Halstead Anaerobic Digestion Facility, Land north of Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, Essex
Received 2 Sept 2022Tile Kiln Farm, Hedingham Road, Sible Hedingham, Essex, CO9 1UP
Received 5 Jul 2021Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 12 Dec 2023Wilson Marriage Centre.,Barrack Street,Colchester,CO1 2LR
Received 22 Jun 2007Land at: Colemans Farm Quarry, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 5 Feb 2024Broomfield Place,189 Main Road,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM1 7EQ
Received 3 Mar 2006Barling Landfill Site,Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 17 Sept 1999Fordham All Saints School,All Saints C of E Primary School,Mill Road,Fordham,Colchester,CO6 3MM
Received 7 Aug 2000Tollesbury County Primary School, East Street, Tollesbury, Essex, CM9 8QE
Received 27 Jul 2023Former Severalls Hospital Site, Northern Approach Road (Phase 3), Colchester, Essex, CO4 5HG
Received 24 Nov 2014Bradwell Quarry, Coggeshall Road, Bradwell, Near Braintree, Essex, CM778EP and land south of Bradwell Quarry on part of Rivenhall Airfield and east of Sheepcoates Lane.
Received 8 Mar 2012Canewdon Endowed Primary School,Anchor Lane,Canewdon,Rochford,SS4 3PA
Received 6 Oct 200363 Straight Road,Boxted,Colchester,CO4 9QY
Received 5 May 2006Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 5 May 2016Records 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 Essex 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