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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land at Colemans Farm, Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 22 Jun 2016Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 1 Aug 2024White Bridge Primary School, Loughton, IG10 3DR
Received 14 Jul 2017Former Wansfell College,Piercing Hill,Theydon Bois,Epping,CM16 7LF
Received 27 Aug 1998St Andrews School,Church Road,Bulmer,Sudbury,CO10 7EH
Received 31 Aug 1999Land at Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell on Sea, Southminster, Essex, CM0 7HQ
Received 1 Apr 2016Henham & Ugley School, School Lane, Henham, CM22 6BP
Received 13 Apr 2021Harlow Rail Depot,Station Approach,Harlow,CM20 2EL
Received 6 Jan 2003Hylands School,Hatfield Grove,Chelmsford,CM1 3DF
Received 24 Nov 2003Land at Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, WITHAM. CM8 3EX
Received 17 Nov 2017Marsh House,Brickfield Road,Vange,Basildon,SS16 4QG
Received 28 Nov 2007Land adjacent to Cressing Road,Faulkbourne Farm,Witham
Received 29 Jan 2013Home Farm County Primary School, Shelley Road, Colchester. CO3 4JL
Received 27 Oct 2017Newport Chalk Quarry,Chalk Farm Quarry,Chalk Farm,Newport,Saffron Walden,CB11 3RX
Received 4 Nov 2011Shalford Primary School, Church End, SHALFORD, CM7 5EZ
Received 12 Aug 2019Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 5 May 2005Lawford Mead Infants School & Nursery,Trent Road,Chelmsford
Received 22 Oct 2002Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 29 Jun 2009Sandon Quarry, Molrams Lane, Sandon, Chelmsford, CM2 7TE
Received 2 Aug 201327 Viking Way,27 Viking Way,Canvey
Received 15 Oct 1999Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, CM6 1SL
Received 12 Aug 2016Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, Essex, CO7 9JU
Received 28 Jun 2021Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 17 Sept 2014Stanway Fiveways Primary School, Winstree Road, Stanway, CO3 0QG
Received 16 Feb 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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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