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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Trinity Road Primary School,Trinity Road,Chelmsford,CM2 6HS
Received 27 Apr 2001Baddow Hall Junior School, New Road, Great Baddow, Chelmsford, CM2 7QZ
Received 27 Apr 2012John Ray Cp Infants School, Notley Road, Braintree, CM7 1HL
Received 26 Feb 2015Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 19 Jun 2014Existing water recycling centre, Chelmsford Water Recycling Centre, Brook End Road, Chelmsford, CM2 6NU
Received 27 Apr 2017Flitch Green Academy, Tanton Road, Flitch Green, Dunmow, CM6 3GG
Received 14 Jul 2016Widdington Quarry,Hollow Road,Widdington,Saffron Walden,CB113SL
Received 9 May 2003Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 12 Oct 2021Land to the south of Terminus Drive, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, SS16 4UH
Received 11 Jul 2016Janet Duke Primary School,Markhams Chase,Laindon,Basildon,SS155LS
Received 17 Jul 2002Preferred Area K, Liitle Easton,Little Easton Airfield,Little Easton,Dunmow,CM6 2BB
Received 26 Sept 2012Old Heath County Primary School, Old Heath Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8DD
Received 1 Jun 2022The Downs Cp School, The Hides, Harlow, CM203RB
Received 16 Sept 2014Church Langley Primary School,Church Langley Way,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9TH
Received 18 Jul 2002Sunnymede School,Mons Avenue,Billericay,CM11 2HQ
Received 17 Feb 2010Birchanger CE Primary School,Birchwood,Birchanger,Bishop's Stortford,CM23 5QF
Received 6 Mar 2002Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 30 Jan 2020Great Bradfords Infant School,Marlborough Road,Braintree,CM7 9LW
Received 27 Jun 2008Gt Bardfield Country Primary School,Braintree Road,Gt Bardfield,Halstead,CM74 4RN
Received 17 Dec 2007Blackleys Quarry, (Essex Show Ground),Great Leighs,Chelmsford,CM3 1QB
Received 7 Dec 2001Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 5 May 2023Land adjacent to Rickstones Road, Rivenhall, CM8 2SD
Received 3 Jul 2020Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 27 Nov 2025Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren lane, Stanway Colchester C03 0NN
Received 31 Aug 2018Records 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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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