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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Takeley Primary School,Roseacres,Takeley,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6QY
Received 23 May 2005Land to the east of Bradfields Farm, Burnt Mills Road, Basildon
Received 22 Feb 2018Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 2 Oct 2003The William de Ferrers School,Trinity Square,South Woodham Ferrers,Chelmsford,CM3 5JU
Received 10 Feb 2010Martins & Wellwick Fms,St Osyth,Clacton-on-Sea,CO16 8HN
Received 26 May 1994St Marys Church of England Primary School, St Johns Road, STANSTED, CM24 8JP
Received 21 Apr 2017Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, CO7 7RU
Received 16 Jul 2018Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 26 Jul 2024Old Hall and Generals Farms,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM2 6GF
Received 26 Jun 2003Boreham Industrial Estate, Unit 9, Waltham Road, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3AW
Received 23 Jul 2025Land North of Apprentice Drive, New Braiswick Park, Colchester, Essex
Received 5 Nov 2014Walton on the Naze County Primary School,Standley Road,Walton on the Naze,CO14 8PT
Received Not publishedEast Hanningfield C of E Primary School,The Tye,East Hanningfield,Chelmsford,CM3 8AE
Received 24 Nov 2006Little Warley Hall Farm, Ranks Green, Fairstead, Essex, CM3 2BG
Received 3 Dec 2013Gt Holts & Wallaces Farm,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3AU
Received 16 Jan 2004Sandon Quarry,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 2 Feb 1998Chelmsford Sewage Treatment Works, 129 Brook End Road South, Springfield, Chelmsford Essex CM2 6NZ
Received 21 Oct 2022The Lion Gates, Thorndon Country Park The Avenue, Warley, Essex CM13 3RZ
Received 29 Jul 2024Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 26 Jun 2019Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, Braintree, CM778DL
Received 6 Jun 2012CSS Heybridge Centre, The Street, Maldon, CM9 4NN
Received 12 Nov 2012A127/A130 Fairglen Interchange
Received 23 Mar 2020Queen Boudica Primary School, Cowper Crescent, Colchester, CO4 5XT
Received 6 Sept 2012Brightlingsea Junior School, Eastern Road, Brightlingsea, Colchester, CO7 0HU
Received 22 May 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.

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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