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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Dunmow Church Of England Junior School, High Stile, Great Dunmow, CM6 1EB
Received 19 Jun 2019St Martins Landfill Site,Martins & Wellwick Fms,St Osyth,Clacton-on-Sea,CO16 8HN
Received 22 Oct 1999Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, Braintree, CM778DL
Received 3 May 2013Chalk Farm Quarry,Chalk Farm,Newport,Saffron Walden,CB11 3RX
Received 9 Oct 1985Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Saffon Walden, CM11 3SL
Received 6 Mar 2013Holy Trinity Primary School,Eight Ash Green & Aldham County Primary School,Fiddlers Folly (off Wood Lane),Fordham Heath,Colchester,CO3 9UE
Received 25 Apr 2006Frobisher Primary & Nursery School,Frobisher Drive,Jaywick,Clacton on Sea,CO15 2QH
Received 1 Jul 1998Warley County Primary School, Chindits Lane, Warley, CM14 5LF
Received 4 Jul 2019Boreham County Primary School,Juniper Road,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3DB
Received 9 May 2002Land adjacent to Cressing Road,Faulkbourne Farm,Witham
Received 16 Apr 2009Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 14 Oct 2013St. Georges New Town Junior School, Canterbury Road, Colchester, CO2 7RU
Received 18 Mar 2014Land at Bolton Farm, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 5AE
Received 16 Sept 2016Land at former Queen Street Bus Depot, Queen Street, Colchester, CO1 2PQ
Received 1 Apr 2026Stansted to Braintree A120,Braintree
Received 29 Dec 1995Chalk Farm, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, CB113RX
Received 10 Jul 2012Land to the north A12, Trunk road at Cuckoo Farm (Park & Ride),Cuckoo Farm,Boxted Road,Mile End,Colchester,CO4 5HH
Received 28 Jul 2014Land at Andrewes Way, Wolsey Park, Rayleigh, Essex
Received 19 Jun 2025LAND AT GREENACRES, PACKARDS LANE, WORMINGFORD
Received 15 Dec 2017Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 27 Jul 2016Land at Bellhouse Farm South, Warren Lane, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 13 Jun 2025Birch Pit, Roundbush Corner, Maldon Road, Colchester, Layer Marney, CO5 9XE
Received 26 Sept 2025Land to the South of Colchester Main Road (known as Sunnymead, Elmstead and Heath Farms), Nr Wivenhoe, Alresford, CO7 8DB
Received 28 Oct 2024Hastingwood Highway Depot,London Road,Hastingwood,Harlow,CM17 9LU
Received 26 Feb 2007Records 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