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.
6,826 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 15 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 16 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 adjacent to Chelmsford City Racecourse, Great Leighs, Chelmsford, CM3 1QP
Received 11 Nov 2021Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 16 Jul 2014Hare Street Primary School and Nursery,Little Grove Field,Harlow,CM19 4BU
Received 23 Jun 2011Coopers Beach Hoilday Park,Church Lane,East Mersea,Colchester,CO5 8TN
Received 6 Mar 2012Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 3 Sept 2015Old Hall and Generals Farms,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM2 6GF
Received 22 Jun 2004Eight Ash Green & Aldham County Primary School,Fiddlers Folly (off Wood Lane),Fordham Heath,Colchester,CO3 9UE
Received 17 Apr 2001Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between, Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 14 Dec 2018Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 10 Feb 2022Land to the east of Buttleys Lane, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SH
Received 22 Sept 2026Bellhouse Quarry and Landfill Site, Warren Lane, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 5 Jan 2022Land at Woolmers Farm,Beazley End Pit,Beazley End,Wethersfield,Braintree
Received 24 Mar 2009Finchingfield Bridge, The Green, Finchingfield, Essex, CM7 4JS
Received 23 May 2016Helena Romanes School, Parsonage Downs, Great Dunmow, CM6 2AU
Received 15 Jun 2021Land at Courtauld Road, basildon, Essex
Received 16 Jan 2013Foxborough Hill,Tile Kiln Quarry, (Foxborough Hills),Sible Hedingham,Halstead
Received 31 Aug 1982Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, CO7 7RU
Received 3 Sept 2018The Plume School, Fambridge Road, Maldon, Essex, CM9 6AB
Received 28 Mar 2025Stanway Primary School,Villa Road,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0RH
Received 17 Jan 2002Gt Holts & Wallaces Farm,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3AU
Received 5 Jul 2001Sandon Quarry,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 24 Oct 1997St Cleres Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 27 Feb 2012Park Farm, Belsteads Farm Lane, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, CM3 3PX
Received 20 Jul 2023Writtle Junior School,Margaretting Road,Writtle,Chelmsford,CM1 3HG
Received 9 Aug 2005Records 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