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.
6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 5 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 14 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 16 Dec 2025Arnolds Farm Business Centre, 221 Ongar Road, Lambourne, Romford, Essex, RM4 1RH
Received 19 Jul 2024Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 15 May 2013Saffron Walden Library,Market Place,Saffron Walden,CB10 1HR
Received 19 Jan 2009Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 28 May 2025Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 17 Dec 2025Southminster Hall,Goldsands Road,Southminster,CM0 7JR
Received 11 Dec 2002Rivenhall Air Field, Braintree,Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 5 Aug 2005Birch Pit, Roundbush Corner, Maldon Road, Colchester, Layer Marney, CO5 9XE
Received 8 Sept 2022The King John School, Shipwrights Drive, Benfleet, SS7 1RQ
Received 30 Jan 2015Great Bardfield Primary School, Braintree Road, Great Bardfield, Braintree, CM7 4RN
Received 22 May 2012Chaston Business Centre,112 Oxford Road,Clacton-on-Sea,CO15 3TH
Received 10 Sept 2009Chalk Farm Quarry,Chalk Farm,Newport,Saffron Walden,CB11 3RX
Received 20 May 2010Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge roundabout on A131, Great Leighs Parish, to NE Chelmsford.
Received 4 Feb 2025Mountnessing Church Of England Primary School, Roman Road, Mountnessing, CM15 0UH
Received 2 Oct 2020Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 30 Jun 2006L J Anderson & Sons Ltd, Foxhall Road, Steeple, Southminster, CM0 7LB
Received 9 Apr 2013Stansted to Braintree A120
Received 4 Aug 2000St Marys Church of England Primary School, St Johns Road, STANSTED, CM24 8JP
Received 21 Apr 2017Land to the west of, & adjacent to, Cambridge Road, just to south of the River Stort and Old Road, Cambridge Road, Harlow, CM20 2EU
Received 14 Dec 2020Waste Transfer Station,Lower Farm,Steeple Road,Mayland,Maldon,CM3 6EG
Received 21 Aug 2001Cobbs Farm
Received 5 Jun 2008Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge Roundabout on A131, Great & Little Leighs Parish, to the north east of Chelmsford
Received 7 Oct 2022Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Jun 2024Records 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.

Understanding planning · 13 min read
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