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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 1 Mar 2013Broomfield Place,189 Main Road,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM1 7EQ
Received 24 May 2001Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 17 Aug 2021Stebbing Primary School, High Street, Stebbing, CM6 3SH
Received 16 Nov 2020Cressing Primary School, Braintree Road, CRESSING, CM77 8JE
Received 22 Nov 2016Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, BRADWELL, CM77 8EP
Received 5 Feb 2018John Ray Junior School, Notley Road, Braintree, CM7 1HL
Received 10 Aug 2015Castle View School,Foksville Road,Canvey,SS8 7AZ
Received 4 Jul 2008Shalford Primary School, Church End, Shalford, CM7 5EZ
Received 2 Feb 2018Dunmow Waste Management, Essex Regiment Way, Little Waltham, CHELMSFORD, CM3 3PT
Received 9 Feb 2017Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 11 Apr 2024Park Farm, Park Lane, Tolleshunt Knights, Maldon, CM9 8HB
Received 19 Jun 2018Hanson Aggregates, Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 6 Nov 2013Chancellor Park Primary School, Brook End Road South, Chelmsford, CM2 6PT
Received 12 May 2015Stanley Drapkin County Primary School,Bower Hall Drive,Steeple Bumpstead,Haverhill,CB9 7ED
Received 13 Aug 1997Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 12 Dec 2011Saffron Walden WRC, New Pond Lane, Saffron Walden, CB10 1BX
Received 12 Jul 2024Chipping Hill Infant School,Church Street,Witham,CM8 2JL
Received 29 Aug 2009Springfield Primary School,Forsythia Close,Chelmsford,CM1 6XW
Received 14 Jun 2002Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 25 Jul 2019Land adjacent to the M11, Great Chesterford, Saffron Walden
Received 18 Apr 2017Wallasea Island,Rochford,SS4 2HD
Received 14 Apr 2014John Bunyan County Inants School,Lancaster Way,Braintree,CM7 5UL
Received 17 Jan 2008Highwood Primary School, Loves Green, Highwood, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 3QH
Received 13 Jul 2022Records 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.

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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