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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon. CM9 8BQ
Received 13 Sept 2012Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received Not publishedTiptree Heath CPS,103 Maldon Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 OPG
Received 28 Mar 2003Danbury Outdoors, Well Lane, Danbury, Chelmsford, CM3 4AB
Received 4 Apr 2019Moulsham High, Junior & Infant School,Brian Close,Chelmsford,CM2 9ES
Received 15 Feb 2010Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 24 Apr 2014Yard 2, Brickfields Way SS4 1NB,Purdeys Industrial Estate,Purdeys Way,Rochford
Received 3 May 1995Ferriers Farm, Bures, Sudbury
Received 10 Jul 1975Old Hall and Generals Farms,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM2 6GF
Received 26 Jun 2003Stanway Fiveways Primary School, Winstree Road, Stanway, CO3 0QG
Received 20 Aug 2018Waltham Abbey Library, 37 Sun Street, Waltham Abbey, Essex, EN9 1EL
Received 6 Sept 2022Land adjacent to Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Saffron Walden, CB11 3SL
Received 9 Jun 2014Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree CO5 9DF
Received 2 Feb 2024Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, Colchester, Essex, CO7 9JU
Received 26 Feb 2013Forest Hall School/The Mountfitchet High School, Forest Hall Road, Stansted, CM24 8TZ
Received 28 Jul 2020Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 3 Nov 2015Land at Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell on Sea, Southminster, Essex, CM0 7HQ
Received 15 Jul 2020Straits Mill, Bocking, Braintree
Received 25 Feb 1970Graunt Courts Culvert,A120 Stansted to Briantree scheme,Braintree
Received 3 Sept 2001Land to the east of Brickfields Way, Brickfields Way, Rochford, SS4 1NB
Received 12 Nov 2014Scripps Farm, Coggeshall, Braintree, Essex
Received 2 Oct 2012Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 3 Nov 2015Land North of Apprentice Drive, New Braiswick Park, Colchester, Essex
Received 6 May 2016Elsenham Quarry & Landfill, Hall Road, Elsenham, CM22 6DR
Received 28 Jul 2020Records 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