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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 15 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Former Trading Standards Office,Beehive Lane,Chelmsford,CM2 9GD
Received 22 Apr 2003Land to the east of Brickfields Way, Rochford, Essex, SS4 1NB
Received 17 Apr 2014Birch Airfield, Blind Lane, Birch, Essex, CO5 9XE
Received 13 Jun 2024Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 1 Dec 2003St Peter's RC Primary School,Coxes Farm Road,Billericay,CM11 2UB
Received 7 Aug 1998Montpelier Farm Blasford Hill Main Road Little Waltham Chelmsford Essex CM3 3PG
Received 19 Mar 1984Land adjacent to Manning Grove, Carringtons Road, Great Bromley, Colchester, CO7 7UZ
Received 15 Nov 2011Oakfield Primary School,Scott Drive,Wickford,SS12 9PW
Received 2 May 2008Dannatts Quarry,Barnards Farm Pit,Hatfield Peverel,Chelmsford
Received 8 Feb 2001Curry Farm Pit, Mill End, Bradwell-On-Sea, CM0 7HL
Received 6 Oct 2018Gosbecks C P School,Owen Ward Close,Shrub End,Colchester,CO2 9DG
Received 21 May 2001Wethersfield Church Of England Primary School, Silver Street, Wethersfield, Essex, CM7 4BP
Received 15 Jul 2024Felsted Primary School,Watch House Green,Felsted,Dunmow,CM6 3EB
Received 18 Nov 2002Greenacres, Packards Lane, Wormingford, Colchester, CO6 3AH
Received 17 May 2016St. James School, Guildford Road, Colchester, CO1 2RA
Received 4 Oct 2012Waste Recycling Centre,Temple Bank,Riverway,Harlow,CM20 2DY
Received 11 Jun 2002St. Andrews C Of E Primary School, Mandeville Road, Marks Tey, Colchester, CO6 1HL
Received 11 Jul 2012St John's Green Primary School,St John's Green,Colchester,CO2 7HE
Received 18 Apr 2006Chalk Farm Quarry,Chalk Farm,Newport,Saffron Walden,CB11 3RX
Received 9 Oct 1985Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 12 Sept 2001Luxborough Lane 2,Luxborough Lane,Chigwell,IG7 6BJ
Received Not publishedWallasea Island,Rochford,SS4 2HD
Received 21 Apr 2011Tile Kiln Quarry, (Foxborough Hills),Sible Hedingham,Halstead
Received 16 Apr 2002Freshwaters Primary Academy, School Lane, Harlow, CM20 3QA
Received 6 Sept 2017Records 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