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.
6,826 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 15 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Bulls Lodge & Park Farm, Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 14 Sept 1994Recycling Centre For Household Waste, Braintree Road, Shalford, Essex. CM7 5HQ
Received 26 Sept 2017St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 23 Sept 2002Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, Essex, CO7 9JU
Received 29 Jun 2020Felsted County Primary School, Braintree Road, Felsted, CM6 3EB
Received 4 Dec 2018Elsenham Quarry, Hall Road, Elsenham, Essex
Received 19 Jun 2014Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP
Received 20 Apr 2022Sandon Quarry, Molrams Lane, Sandon, Chelmsford, CM2 7TE
Received 5 Nov 2013Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Dec 2020Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 5 Oct 2021Stapleford Abbotts Primary School,Stapleford Road,Stapleford Abbotts,Romford,RM4 1EJ
Received 17 Jan 2008North & West Essex Adult Community College, Rivermill Centre, Hodings Road, Harlow, CM201NW
Received 10 Mar 2015St Giles C E Primary School,Church Street,Gt Maplestead,Halstead,CO9 2RG
Received 3 Sept 2001John Ray Infant and Junior School, Notley Road, Braintree, Essex, CM7 1HL
Received 30 May 2014Crown Quarry (Ardleigh Reservoir Extension), Wick Farm, Old Ipswich Road, Tendring, Colchester, CO7 7QR
Received 28 Feb 2017Bulls Lodge Quarry,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 20 Mar 1998The area of open space east of Forest Road and north of Yew Close, Witham
Received 15 Aug 2018Noak Bridge Primary School,Coppice Lane,Basildon,SS154JS
Received 29 Jun 1998Hill Farm, RESERVOIR,Crown Lane,Tendring,Clacton-on-Sea,CO16 0BJ
Received 11 Jan 2002Wallasea Island, Creeksea Ferry Road, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 26 Oct 2015Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 22 Jun 2020North Primary School & Nursery, John Harper Street, Colchester, CO1 1RP
Received 28 Feb 2012Ravenscroft County Primary School,Nayland Drive,Clacton on Sea,CO16 8TZ
Received 19 Jul 2010Fairhouse Infant School,Fairhouse Community Junior & Infant School,Long Riding,Basildon,SS141QP
Received 30 Mar 2004Records 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