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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Part of Dannatts Pit,Barnards Farm Pit,Hatfield Peverel,Chelmsford
Received 20 May 1997Limes Farm County Junior and Infant Schools,Limes Avenue,Chigwell,IG7 5LP
Received 17 Nov 2006Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Essex, CB11 3SL
Received 5 Jul 2024W H Coller limited, Church Lane, Marks Tey Colchester, Essex, CO6 1LN
Received 3 May 2023Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 27 Sept 2019Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Essex, CB11 3SL
Received 5 Jul 2024Baddow Hall County Junior & Infants School,New Rd,Great Baddow,Chelmsford,CM2 7QZ
Received 24 Apr 2003Our Lady of Ransom RC Primary School,Little Wheatley Chase,London Road,Rayleigh,SS6 9EH
Received 3 Mar 2008A120 Stansted to Braintree scheme
Received 3 Sept 2001Tiptree Basketworks & Woodyard,Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 27 Mar 2007Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 14 May 2021Danbury Park County Primary School,Well Lane,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AB
Received 14 Mar 2007Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 25 Jun 2021Kent View Recreation Ground, Kent View Road, Pistea, Basildon
Received 8 Jan 2020Barnes Farm Infant & Junior Schools,Henniker Gate,Chelmer Village,Chelmsford,CM2 6QH
Received 13 Oct 2010Harlow Pyenest Centre,Pyenest Road,Harlow
Received 9 Sept 1999Land adjacent to Park Farm, Channels Drive, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3PX
Received 11 Oct 2022Former Trading Standards Office,Beehive Lane,Chelmsford,CM2 9GD
Received 25 Apr 2003Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 27 Mar 2015Marylands & Shrubland Court Day Centres,43 Shrub End Road,Colchester,CO3 3UE
Received 31 Jan 2001Purford Green Primary School,Purford Green,Harlow,CM18 6HP
Received 23 Sept 2010Endeavour School, Hogarth Avenue, Brentwood, CM158BE
Received 14 Jun 2013Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 3 Apr 2019Benfleet Scrap Co Ltd, Brunel Road Manor Trading Estate Benfleet, Essex SS7 4PS
Received 27 May 2022Records 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.

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