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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
National Grid Station,London Road,Rawreth,Wickford,SS118TZ
Received 16 May 2007Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge Roundabout on A131, Great & Little Leighs Parish, to the north east of Chelmsford.
Received 17 Jun 2022Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 27 Jan 2021Herewood Primary School, Colebrook Lane, Loughton, Essex, IG103HR
Received 30 Jul 2013Little Parndon Respite Care Unit (Little Parndon Primary School),Park Mead,Harlow,CM20 1PU
Received 11 Feb 2002Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 30 Jul 2010Boro Farm, Newmarket Road, Great Chesterford, Saffron Walden, CB10 1FN
Received 28 Feb 2022Chelmsford North East Bypass - Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge Roundabout on A131, Great & Little Leighs Parish, to the north east of Chelmsford
Received 22 Jan 2025Field Archaeology Unit (ECC),Fairfield Court,Fairfield Road,Braintree,CM7 3YQ
Received 4 Jun 1999Inworth Grange Farm Pit, Grange Road, Tiptree, CO5 0QQ
Received 12 Oct 2022Elmstead Hall, Tye Road, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 29 Aug 2025Hare Street Primary School and Nursery,Little Grove Field,Harlow,CM19 4BU
Received 3 Nov 2005Great Wakering Primary School,High Street,Great Wakering,Southend-on-sea,SS3 0EJ
Received 6 Jul 200961 High Street,Walton-on-the-Naze
Received 17 Jul 2001Highwood Primary School, Loves Green, Chelmsford, CM1 3QH
Received 10 Mar 2017Canewdon Endowed Primary School,Anchor Lane,Canewdon,Rochford,SS4 3PA
Received 29 Jul 2003Stanway Fiveways Primary School, Winstree Road, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0QG
Received 21 Oct 2013Land adjacent to Chelmsford City Racecourse, Great Leighs, CM3 1QP
Received 4 Oct 2021Oak View School, Whitehills Road, Loughton, IG10 1TS
Received 4 Mar 2019180 Brooker Road, Waltham Abbey, Essex, EN9 1HT
Received 26 Nov 2013Codham Hall Farm, Codham Hall Lane, Great Warley, Brentwood, Essex
Received 22 Nov 2012Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon. CM9 8BQ
Received 10 Dec 2014Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 11 Mar 2026Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 11 Jul 2014Records 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