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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 12 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 16 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Colemans Farm Quarry, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, WITHAM, CM8 3EX
Received 26 Feb 2020Broomfield Place,189 Main Road,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM1 7EQ
Received 20 Jul 2007Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP
Received 20 May 2021Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford, CM1 4TZ
Received 28 May 2010Bulls Lodge Quarry (Boreham Airfield), Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 1 Apr 2025Land at Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 16 Feb 2024Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 18 Jul 2023Elsenham Quarry,Hall Rd,Elsenham,Bishops Stortford,CM22 6DJ
Received 5 Nov 2007Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Chelmsford, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 22 Nov 2022Heathlands C of E Primary School,New Church Road,West Bergholt,Colchester,CO6 3JF
Received 20 Jun 2007PGR Archers Fields,Archers Fields,Burnt Mills,Basildon,SS15 6DX
Received 27 Aug 1998Martell's Quarry,Ardleigh,Colchester,CO7 7SP
Received 5 Dec 1994Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 6 Oct 2014Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120) Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 2 Sept 2021Danbury County Youth Camp,Well Lane,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AB
Received 19 Sept 2011The Henry Moore Primary School,Kiln Lane,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9LW
Received 18 Aug 2003Magnox Electric Plc, Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell-on-sea, Southminster, CM0 7HP
Received 18 Sept 2019Land at Wallasea Island, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 16 Apr 2015Ashlyns Organic Farm,Epping Road,North Weald,Epping,CM16 6RZ
Received 16 Feb 2007Continuation of use for the importation, Tiptree Quarry, Grange Road, Tiptree, Essex
Received 20 Dec 2012Colchester Central Library, 21 Trinity Square, Colchester, Essex, CO1 1JB
Received 21 Mar 2025Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 3 Oct 2017Land at Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, WITHAM, CM8 3EX
Received 26 Jul 2016Mountfitchet Maths & Computing College,Forest Hall Road,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM248TZ
Received 26 Sept 2003Records 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