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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Broxbourne Airfield,Nursery Road,Broxbourne,EN9 2JE
Received 11 Feb 1963Oyster Haven Business Park, Haven Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8HT
Received 5 Jun 2023Bulls Lodge Quarry (Boreham Airfield), Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 22 Oct 2024Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 31 Jul 2002Ravens Academy, Nayland Drive, Clacton on Sea, Essex, CO16 8TZ
Received 25 Oct 2016Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 7 May 2024Gt Sampford Primary School,Finchingfield Road,Saffron Walden,CB10 2RL
Received 10 May 2005St Marys Church of England Primary School, St Johns Road, STANSTED, CM24 8JP
Received 21 Apr 2017Elsenham CofE Primary School, High Street, Elsenham, Bishops Stortford, CM22 6DD
Received 19 Aug 2017Noak Bridge Primary School,Coppice Lane,Basildon,SS154JS
Received 21 Jul 2008Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 30 May 2023The Bishops C.E. & R.E. Primary School,Beardsley Drive,North Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6ZQ
Received 3 Aug 1999Anglia Cargo Terminal, Priors Way, Coggeshall, Essex CO6 1TL
Received 5 Jul 2011Greensted St Andrews Nursery & Infants School,Hickory Avenue,Greenstead,Colchester,CO4 3QJ
Received 8 Dec 2005Land at Wallasea Island, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 21 Apr 2015BRADWELL QUARRY, CHURCH ROAD, BRADWELL, BRAINTREE, CM77 8EP
Received 10 Feb 2017Abacus Primary School,Tresco Way,The Wick,Wickford,SS12 9GJ
Received 17 Jul 2001Galleywood Infant School, Barnard Road, Galleywood, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 8RR
Received 25 Mar 2026Chelmsford WRC, Brook End Road, Chelmsford, CM2 6NU
Received 30 Aug 2017Cressing Primary School, Braintree Road, Cressing, Essex, CM77 8JE
Received 29 Aug 2025Moulsham High, Junior & Infant School,Brian Close,Chelmsford,CM2 9ES
Received 22 Dec 2005Unit B, 39, Robjohns Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 3AG
Received 16 Jul 2015Grapnells Farm, Wallasea Island, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 29 Sept 2014Oakview School,Whitehills Road,Loughton,IG10 1TS
Received 9 Feb 2010Records 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