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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Little Waltham C Of E Primary School, The Street, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, CM3 3NY
Received 1 Apr 2016Plumptons Farm,Ford Lane,Alresford,Colchester,CO7 8BB
Received 28 Jan 2009Clavering Primary School, Stortford Road, Clavering, CB11 4PE
Received 31 Jan 2018Land adjacent to Chelmsford City Racecourse, Great Leighs, CM3 1QP
Received 4 Oct 2021Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 13 Jun 2022Ford Street Bridge,A1124 Ford Street,Aldham,Colchester
Received 16 Nov 2001Pitsea Junior School,High Road,Pitsea,Basildon,SS133AB
Received 20 Jan 2009Besteads Farm, Pratts Farm Lane,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 21 Nov 2002Fordham All Saints Primary School, Mill Road, Fordham, Colchester, CO6 3NN
Received 12 Jan 2015Canvey Island STW, Thames Road, Canvey Island, SS8 0HR
Received 12 Jun 2012Beauchamps High School, Beauchamps Drive, Wickford. SS11 8LY
Received 25 Sept 2019The New Laindon Library,Laindon Former Police Station Site,New Century Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS156AG
Received 21 Aug 2000Essex County Council Waste Transfer Station, Chelmsford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1LW
Received 15 Jun 2023Lyons Hall School,Deerleap Way,Braintree,CM7 9DH
Received 9 Nov 2009St Johns C of E Primary School,Little Baddow Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM4 4NS
Received 13 Jun 2005Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 10 Jul 2015Elm Hall Cp School, Conrad Road, Witham, CM8 2SD
Received 22 May 2013St Lawrence Primary School, Rectory Road, Rowhedge, CO5 7HR
Received 28 Jul 2020Two Village Primary School,Mayes Lane,Ramsey,Harwich,CO12 5HP
Received 21 Jan 2002Beauchamps High School. Beauchamps Drive, Wickford, SS11 8LY
Received 28 Feb 2020Land 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 19 Sept 2025Notley Green County Primary School,Blickling Road,Great Notley,Braintree,CM7 7LJ
Received 13 Aug 2003Old Hall and Generals Farms,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM2 6GF
Received 2 Jul 2002Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 12 Dec 2011Records 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
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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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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