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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Adult Community Learning, St Osyth Road, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, CO15 3BN
Received 1 Sept 2026Batemans Farm, Great Leighs, Chelmsford, CM3 1PU
Received 28 Apr 2014Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 14 Mar 2025Land to the west of Winsford Way, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 5AA
Received 23 Sept 2013Theydon Bois County Primary School,Orchard Drive,Theydon Bois,Epping,CM16 7DF
Received 22 Dec 2005The Colne Community School, Church Road, Brightlingsea CO7 0QL
Received 24 Aug 2021Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree CO5 9DF
Received 7 Feb 2023Chipping Hill Infant School,Church Street,Witham,CM8 2JL
Received 8 Feb 2010Danbury Park County Primary School,Well Lane,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AB
Received 30 Oct 2008Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 28 Feb 2018Brickhouse Farm Community Centre, Poulton Close, Maldon, CM9 6NG
Received 13 Nov 2019Ramsey College, Colne Road, Halstead, CO9 2HR
Received 14 Jun 2013Langford Bridge,A128 Ongar to Brentwood Road,Brentwood,CM15 0LB
Received 20 May 2003Widdington Quarry,Hollow Road,Widdington,Saffron Walden,CB113SL
Received 19 Feb 2004St Andrews School,Church Road,Bulmer,Sudbury,CO10 7EH
Received 13 Jul 2009Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, C03 0NN
Received 4 Nov 2019Land at Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 23 Aug 2018Engaines Primary School,St Osyth Road East,Little Clacton,Clacton-on-Sea,CO16 9PH
Received 1 Jun 2001Doddinghurst County Infant School,Church Lane,Doddinghurst,Brentwood,CM15 0NJ
Received 30 May 2003Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 23 Oct 2020Former Kores Nordic Site,West Road,Harlow,CM20 2AL
Received 19 Feb 2013Highfields CPS,Colchester Rd,Lawford,Manningtree,CO11 2BN
Received 29 Jul 1998Great Bentley Primary School, Plough Road, Great Bentley, CO7 8LD
Received 13 Sept 2023Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 4 Apr 2025Records 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