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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 13 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 25 Nov 1998Land allocated for a new primary school under Land South of Limebrook Way and East of Maldon Wick, Maldon, Essex
Received 13 Aug 2024Land North Of Generals Lane Roundabout, Generals Lane, Boreham. Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HJ
Received 11 Apr 2024Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 24 Apr 2014Colchester North County Primary School,John Harper Street,Colchester
Received 5 Jan 2006Land to the east of Buttleys Lane, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SH
Received 3 Jul 2026Ford Street Bridge,A1124 Ford Street,Aldham,Colchester
Received 14 Nov 2005Braintree Road, Shalford, CM7 5HQ
Received 31 Jan 2014Wick Farm, Ardleigh RESERVOIR,Crown Quarry (Ardleigh Reservoir Extension),Old Ipswich Road,Tendring,Colchester,CO7 7QR
Received 19 Oct 2017Hylands School,Hatfield Grove,Chelmsford,CM1 3DF
Received 16 Sept 2010Former Heath School Site, Winstree Road, Stanway, Colchester
Received 24 Nov 2017Beaulieu Park Education Campus site, Beaulieu, Chelmsford
Received 25 Jun 2018Ravenscroft County Primary School,Nayland Drive,Clacton on Sea,CO16 8TZ
Received 16 Oct 1998The Hereward County Primary School, Colebrook Lane, Loughton, IG102HR
Received 28 Mar 2012Colchester Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW), Haven Road, The Hythe, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8HT
Received 4 May 2012Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 23 Oct 2023Stanway Primary School, Colchester, CO3 0RH
Received 28 Jun 2017Church Lane,Stanway,Colchester
Received 23 Sept 1998Shorefields School, 114, Holland Road, Clacton-on-sea, CO156HF
Received 22 Jul 2013St Andrews C of E Primary School,Mandeville Road,Marks Tey,Colchester,CO6 1HL
Received 1 Jul 2005Land at Coleman’s Farm Quarry, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 4 May 2018Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 27 Mar 2015Land to the east of Buttleys Lane, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SH
Received 11 Sept 2026Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge roundabout on A131, Great Leighs Parish, to NE Chelmsford.
Received 4 Feb 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.

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