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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 Adj. To Cressing Road,Land adjacent to Cressing Road,Faulkbourne Farm,Witham
Received 20 Dec 2000Elmstead Hall, Tye Road, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 17 Nov 2025Norton Field Farm, Norton Lane, High Ongar, Ongar, Essex, CM4 0LN
Received 17 Sept 2024Wimbish County Primary School,Maple Lane,Tye Green,Wimbish,Saffron Walden,CB10 2XE
Received 15 Oct 199815 Church Street (Temp Library),Saffron Walden,CB10 1JW
Received 26 Jun 2006Halstead Highways Depot, Fenn Road, Halstead, Essex, CO9 2HG
Received 10 Dec 2015Hollow Road,Widdington,Saffron Walden,CB113SL
Received 1 Dec 2006Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 14 May 2019Noak Bridge Primary School,Coppice Lane,Basildon,SS154JS
Received 8 Dec 2005Colne High School Detached Playing Field,Strangers Corner,Church Road,Brightlingsea,CO7 0QT
Received 7 Sept 2007Edith Borthwick School,Fennes Rd,Bocking,Braintree,CM7 5LA
Received 12 May 2003Lawford C Of E Primary School, Long Road, Lawford, CO11 2EF
Received 1 Apr 2021Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HR
Received 24 Apr 2025Mid Essex Gravel Pits Ltd, Essex Regiment Way, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, CM3 3PZ
Received 29 Dec 2011Roxwell Quarry Complex, Boyton Cross, Roxwell, Chelmsford, CM1 4LT
Received 25 Apr 2024Colchester Quarry (Bellhouse), Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 4 Feb 2021Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 25 Jun 2025Land adjacent to the M11, Great Chesterford, Saffron Walden
Received 21 Apr 2016Land at Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane,Rivenhall, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX.
Received 23 May 2022Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 24 Oct 2012Barling Marsh Quarry & Landfill, Mucking Hall Road, Barling Magna, SS3 0NR
Received 25 Oct 2023The area of public open space directly west of Williams Drive and directly north of Rana Drive, Braintree, Essex
Received 18 May 2018Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Essex. CM9 8BQ
Received 11 Oct 2017180 Brooker Road, Waltham Abbey, Essex, EN9 1HT
Received 26 Nov 2013Records 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