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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree CO5 9DF
Received 2 Sept 2022Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 19 May 2020Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 15 Feb 2022Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 6 Nov 2024St Albrights,Rose House,1 London Road,Stanway,Colchester
Received 13 Jul 2000Unit 10,Chelmsford Road Ind Site,Dunmow
Received 4 Apr 1997Doddinghurst County Junior School,Church Lane,Doddinghurst,Brentwood,CM15 ONJ
Received 16 Dec 2008Elsenham Quarry, Hall Road, Elsenham, BIshop Stortford, CM226DJ
Received 1 Jul 2013Riverside Primary School,Ferry Road,Hullbridge,Hockley,SS5 6ND
Received 9 Nov 2009Former Heath School, Winstree Road, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 5QE
Received 7 Jun 2018John Bunyan County Inants School,Lancaster Way,Braintree,CM7 5UL
Received 12 Jan 2007Elm Hall Cp School, Conrad Road, Witham, CM8 2SD
Received 14 Jun 2013Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land east of Sheepcotes Lane
Received 29 Oct 2020Land adjacent to Cressing Road,Faulkbourne Farm,Witham
Received 29 Apr 2010Vacant Land, Circular Road East, Colchester
Received 30 May 2014Bulls Lodge Quarry
Received 15 Dec 2008Land North of Apprentice Drive, New Braiswick Park, Colchester, Essex
Received 19 Mar 2015Part of Langridge Farm, Paynes Lane, Nazeing,Nazeing Quarry,Green Lane,Nazeing,Waltham Abbey,EN10 6TD
Received 13 Mar 1990Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, BRADWELL, CM77 8EP
Received 16 Feb 2018Bennett Canfield,Priors Green,Takeley,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6SR
Received 4 Nov 2010Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 14 Sept 2020Lawford C Of E Primary School, Long Road, Lawford, CO11 2EF
Received 28 Jul 2021Waltham Park,Sewardstone Road,Waltham Abbey
Received 6 Sept 1991Bellhouse Landfill Site,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 11 Dec 1996Records 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