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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 12 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Rayne, Braintree, Essex, CM77 6SB
Received 29 Aug 2024Edith Borthwick School,Fennes Rd,Bocking,Braintree,CM7 5LA
Received 11 Jun 2002High Ongar Primary School,The Street,High Ongar,Ongar,CM5 9NB
Received 19 Apr 2007Former Severalls Hospital Site (Phase 3), Northern Approach Road, Colchester, Essex, CO4 5HG
Received 11 Mar 2016Essex County Council Waste Transfer Station, Chelmsford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1LW
Received 8 Jan 2025West Wood (Ancient Woodland), East Thundersley, Essex
Received 7 Apr 2017Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 19 Feb 2015Land adjacent to the M11, Great Chesterford, Saffron Walden
Received 17 Apr 2018The Tyrrells School,Tavistock Road,Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6JN
Received 20 Apr 2004The Henry Moore Primary School,Kiln Lane,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9LW
Received 12 Sept 2006St George's Infants School,Barrington Rd,Colchester,CO2 7RW
Received 31 Aug 2007Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon. CM9 8BQ
Received 7 Jul 2011Harlowbury Primary School Site, Gilden Way, Harlow
Received 17 Apr 2025Helena Romanes School,Parsonage Downs,Dunmow,CM6 2AY
Received 6 Sept 2004Arnolds Farm Business Centre, 221 Ongar Road, Lambourne, Romford, Essex, RM4 1RH
Received 19 Jul 2024Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 5 Mar 2012Barling landfill Site, Mucking Hall, Barling Magna, SS3 0NR
Received 29 Sept 2016Adult Community Learning Centre,Spinks Lane,Witham,CM8 1EP
Received 7 Jun 2005Howbridge CE Junior School (also CM8 1DJ),Howbridge Road,Witham,CM8 1BZ
Received 18 Jan 2010Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 21 Jul 2005Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 10 Sept 2026Peter Kirk Centre, St Johns Road, Stansted, Essex, CM24 8JP
Received 16 May 2023The Spinney Junior & Infants School,Cooks Spinney,Harlow,CM20 3BW
Received 1 Mar 200619-21 Bocking End,Braintree,CM7 9AE
Received 24 Nov 2003Records 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
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Understand planning application documents, officer reports and decision notices. Use a reading checklist, document table and worked example to inspect a case.

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

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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