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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Bulls Lodge Quarry (Boreham Airfield), Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 7 Aug 2024Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 13 May 2025Blunts Farm, Epping
Received 21 Feb 1995Milwards Primary School and Nursery,Paringdon Road,Harlow,CM19 4QX
Received 24 Sept 2010Frinton Library,Frinton Library,The Old Council House, 59 Old Road,Frinton on Sea,CO13 9DA
Received 14 Mar 2005Shenfield Library, Hutton Road, Shenfield, CM15 8NJ
Received 3 Jul 2024Friars Grove Primary School, Upland Drive, Colchester, CO4 0PZ
Received 28 Jun 2021The Colne Community School, Church Road, Brightlingsea, CO7 0QL
Received 12 Mar 2021Burnham on Crouch County Primary School,Dunkirk Road,Burnham on Crouch,CM0 8LG
Received 20 Jun 2002Broxbourne Airfield,Nursery Road,Broxbourne,EN9 2JE
Received 31 Jul 1962Boreham Industrial Estate, Unit 9, Waltham Road, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3AW
Received 23 Jul 2025Sandon Quarry,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 27 Sept 1993Broomfield Pit,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 21 May 1999Stanway Fiveways, Primary School, Winstree Road, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0QG
Received 20 Nov 2018Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 8 Sept 2022Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 3 Jul 2001Vacant Land, Circular Road East, Colchester
Received 21 Aug 2013Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 2 Aug 2012Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 26 Feb 2021Pitsea Landfill Site, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, SS16 4UH
Received 5 Dec 2017Brentwood,Doddinghurst County Junior School,Church Lane,Doddinghurst,Brentwood,CM15 ONJ
Received 20 May 1998Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 2 Jun 2021Honywood School,Westfield Drive,Coggeshall,Colchester,CO6 1PZ
Received 4 Jun 2001A127/A130 Fairglen Interchange
Received 14 Nov 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.

Understanding planning · 13 min read
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