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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 to the south of Colchester Main Road, Alresford, Nr Colchester, C07 8DB
Received 4 Oct 2022Harlow Rail Depot,Station Approach,Harlow,CM20 2EL
Received 11 Jan 2007Cold Norton Primary School,St Stephens Road,Cold Norton,Maldon,CM3 6JE
Received 28 Mar 2006Springfield Primary School, Forsythia Close, Chelmsford, CM1 6XW
Received 8 Oct 2015Land at Old Hall Farm, Boreham, Essex,Old Hall and Generals Farms,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM2 6GF
Received 21 Nov 2005Wimbish County Primary School,Maple Lane,Tye Green,Wimbish,Saffron Walden,CB10 2XE
Received 29 May 2008Unit 13,Rawreth Industrial Estate,Raweth Lane,Rayleigh,SS6 9RL
Received 16 Sept 2005Land 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 17 Jun 2022Danbury Park County Primary School,Well Lane,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AB
Received 12 Nov 1999Langham County Primary School,School Road,Langham,Colchester,CO4 5BB
Received 9 Mar 1999Crown Quarry (Ardleigh Reservoir Extension),Old Ipswich Road,Tendring,Colchester,CO7 7QR
Received 23 Sept 2013Land at: Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 7 Dec 2022Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land southest of Sheepcotes Farm
Received 10 Feb 2017Bellcroft,Eastways Ind. Estate,Witham
Received 26 Aug 2004Adjacent to Freeport Railway Station,Charter Way,Freeport,Braintree
Received 17 Apr 2012Ash Grove Rest Area A120,Staggs Farm,Dunmow
Received 26 Jan 2004Hylands School, Hatfield Grove, Chelmsford, CM1 3DF
Received 29 Dec 2011Nazeing Quarry, Green Lane, Nazeing Essex, En10 6TD
Received 11 Jan 2017Old Hall, Church Road, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3EJ
Received 7 Dec 2011Existing roundabout between Chelmer Valley Road (A1016), Essex Regiment Way (A130), White Hart Lane (A130) and Pump Lane, Chelmsford
Received 20 Feb 2018St Margarets C Of E Primary School, Church Lane, Toppesfield, Essex, CO9 4DS
Received 11 Aug 2026Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land south of Cut Hedge Lane
Received 10 Nov 2015Rayne Quarry Dunmow Road Braintree, Essex Rayne
Received 23 Sept 2020Felsted Waste Water Treatment Works,Station Road,Felsted
Received 14 Nov 2005Records 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