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.
6,827 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land east of Sheepcotes Lane
Received 31 Jul 2019Barnes Farm County Junior School, Henniker Gate, Chelmsford, CM2 6QH
Received 13 May 2013Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 25 Feb 2013Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 12 Sept 2006The Hermitage,Shenfield Road,Brentwood,CM15 8AG
Received 1 Sept 2003Chalk Farm Quarry,Chalk Farm,Newport,Saffron Walden,CB11 3RX
Received 9 Jul 1990Land at Andrewes Way Wolsey Park Rayleigh
Received 24 Jul 2026Cold Norton Primary School, 2 St Stephens Road, Cold Norton, Essex, CM3 6JE
Received 20 Mar 2023Mountnessing Church Of England Primary School, Roman Road, Mountnessing, CM15 0UH
Received 1 Oct 2020Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren lane, Stanway Colchester C03 0NN
Received 23 Oct 2018Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 25 Feb 2019Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, Essex, CO7 9JU
Received 12 Oct 2015The area of public open space directly west of Williams Drive and directly north of Rana Drive, Braintree, Essex
Received 15 Jan 2019New Dukes Way Offices,2 Beaufort Road,Chelmsford,CM2 6PS
Received 10 Jun 2005Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 15 Apr 2026Montgomery County Junior and Infants School, Baronswood Way, Colchester, Essex, CO2 9QG
Received 15 Jan 2015The Scrap Yard,Dusty Lane,Tye Green,Braintree,CM77 8HB
Received 13 Sept 2007Mid Essex Magistrates Courts, Shire Hall, Tindal Square, Chelmsford, CM1 1RA
Received 17 Nov 2014High Beech C of E Primary School,Mott Street,Loughton,IG10 4AP
Received 3 Oct 2001Broomfield Pit,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 30 Jun 1999Kelvedon Hatch County Primary School,School Road,Kelvedon Hatch,Brentwood,CM15 0DH
Received 16 Sept 2005Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 2 Feb 2005Land adjacent to Springfield Parish Centre,St. Augustine's Way,Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6GX
Received 19 Jul 2011Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 20 Jan 2025Records 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