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6,826 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 17 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Larkrise County Primary School,Dorset Avenue,Chelmsford,CM2 9UV
Received 25 Feb 2008Cory Environmental Ltd, Bellhouse Landfill, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 20 Jan 2012Manning Grove,Carrington Road,Great Bromley,Colchester,CO7 7UZ
Received 15 Apr 2008Tile Kiln Farm, Sible Hedingham, Halstead, Essex, CO9 1UP
Received 23 Feb 2024Land at Buttleys Lane, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SJ
Received 4 May 2020Kingswode Hoe School, Sussex Road, Colchester, CO3 3QJ
Received 14 Jan 2014Springfield Primary School, Forsythia Close, Chelmsford, CM1 6XW
Received 16 Apr 2015Woodlands Comprehensive School, Takely End, Basildon, SS165BA
Received 16 Dec 2013Land to the North of Hovefields Court, Hovefields Avenue, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1EB
Received 29 Apr 2016Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 6 May 2020Land at Colchester Quarry (Bellhouse), Warren Lane, Colchester, Essex
Received 25 Oct 2018Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 25 Mar 2026Greenacres, Warehouse, Packards Lane, Wormingford, Essex, CO6 3AH
Received 18 Nov 2025Stapleford Abbotts Primary School,Stapleford Road,Stapleford Abbotts,Romford,RM4 1EJ
Received 3 Jul 2009Park Farm,Park Lane,Tolleshunt Knights,Maldon,CM9 8HB
Received 10 Oct 2001Colchester Quarry,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 31 Oct 2012Ramsden Hall School,Ramsden Heath,Billericay,CM11 1HN
Received 11 Dec 2000Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 18 Jan 2019Crumps Farm,Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 10 Dec 1999The Colne Community School,Church Road,Brightlingsea,CO7 0QL
Received 17 Aug 2000Millhouse Junior, Infant and Nursery School, Tavistock Road, Laindon, Basildon SS155QF
Received Not publishedFormer Alderman Blaxhill Secondary School, Paxman Avenue, Colchester, CO2 9DQ
Received 20 Nov 2018West Hatch High School, High Road, Chigwell, IG7 5BT
Received 28 Nov 2019Danbury Park County Primary School,Well Lane,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AB
Received 11 Nov 1999Records 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