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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land at Colemans Farm, Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 22 Jun 2016Bulls Lodge & Park Farm, Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 22 Nov 2019Magnet House,Jackson Road,Clacton on Sea,CO15 1JD
Received 11 Dec 2002Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 14 Oct 2025St Peter's Church Of England Primary School, Myneer Park, Coggeshall, Essex, CO6 1YU
Received 30 Jul 2026St. Giles C Of E Primary School, Church Street, Great Maplestead, Halstead, CO9 2RG
Received 28 Aug 2014Canvey Island Infant School, Long Road, Canvey Island SS8 0JG
Received 16 Dec 2019Crown Quarry (Ardleigh Reservoir Extension)
Received 21 Aug 2013Bulls Lodge & Park Farm, Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 29 Oct 1987Colchester Quarry (Bellhouse), Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 6 Sept 2023Army and Navy Junction, Chelmsford
Received 2 Mar 2023Crumps Farm,Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 6 Aug 1998St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 21 Jan 2004Coopersale & Theydon Garnon C E P School,Brickfield Road,Coopersale Common,Epping,CM16 7QX
Received 18 Oct 2011Waltham Park,Sewardstone Road,Waltham Abbey
Received 6 Sept 1991Land south of A1060 (Salt’s Green), Chalk End, Roxwell, Chelmsford, CM1 4NJ
Received 12 Oct 2022Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Dec 2020Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Chelmsford, CM2 7TE
Received 23 Jan 2015Land to the north A12, Trunk road at Cuckoo Farm (Park & Ride),Cuckoo Farm,Boxted Road,Mile End,Colchester,CO4 5HH
Received 15 Mar 2011Buckhurst Hill Library, 165 Queens Road, Buckhurst Hill, Essex, IG9 5AZ
Received 21 Sept 2022Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, Essex, CM77 8EP
Received 21 Aug 2023The Downs Primary School and Nursery, The Hides, Harlow, Essex, CM20 3RB
Received 13 May 2014St Giles C of E Primary School, Church Street, Halstead, Great Maplestead, CO9 2RG
Received 30 Apr 2014Records 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.

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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