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.
6,828 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Adult Training Centre,Ravensbourne Drive,Chelmsford,CM1 2SL
Received 1 Sept 1998Land to the east of Buttleys Lane, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SH
Received 31 Jul 2026Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 25 Sept 2020Lawford C Of E Primary School Long Road Lawford CO11 2EF
Received 23 Nov 2020Burnt Mill Comprehensive School,First Avenue,Harlow,CM20 2NR
Received 8 Aug 2002Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 15 Nov 2024Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 3 Nov 2021Tany's Dell County Primary School,Mowbray Road,Harlow,CM20 2LS
Received 4 Oct 2000Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 19 Apr 2024All Saints C of E Primary School (Highlands Campus),Highlands Drive,Maldon,CM9 6HY
Received 12 Nov 2001Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 19 Aug 2004Eight Ash Green & Aldham County Primary School,Fiddlers Folly (off Wood Lane),Fordham Heath,Colchester,CO3 9UE
Received 2 Aug 2002Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 12 Jun 2020Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, WITHAM, CM8 3EX
Received 8 Sept 2017Unit 2, Goldcrest Industrial Estate, Driberg Way, Braintree, Essex, CM7 1NB
Received 20 Nov 2013Felsted Primary School,Watch House Green,Felsted,Dunmow,CM6 3EB
Received 12 Feb 2002A133 Colchester to Clacton (Weeley Roundabout)
Received 29 Oct 2019Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 19 Feb 2015Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge Roundabout on A131, Great & Little Leighs Parish, to the north east of Chelmsford.
Received 11 Jul 2025Land at: Asheldham Quarry Southminster Road Asheldham Essex CM0 7DZ
Received 29 Sept 2020Castledon School, Bromfords Drive, Wickford, Essex, SS12 0PW
Received 22 Jun 2023Bellhouse Quarry And Landfill Site, Electricity Generating Station, Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 24 Oct 2022Martell's Quarry,Ardleigh,Colchester,CO7 7SP
Received 15 Oct 2004Edas Wickford Centre, Alderney Gardens, Wickford, SS11 7JZ
Received 29 Mar 2021Records 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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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