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.
6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 15 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 18 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land adjacent to Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Saffon Walden, CM11 3SL
Received 6 Mar 2013Barnes Farm Infant & Junior Schools,Henniker Gate,Chelmer Village,Chelmsford,CM2 6QH
Received 9 Aug 2005Daisy House, Haven Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8HT
Received 21 Aug 2024Brent Hall Farm,Russell Green,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3AZ
Received Not publishedHighwoods Quarry, Stortford Road, Dunmow CM6 1SL
Received 24 Nov 2023Birch Pit,Roundbush Corner,Birch Airfield,Birch,Colchester
Received 16 Dec 2016Land at Wallasea Island, Essex
Received 14 Jun 2012Danbury Outdoors, Well Lane, Danbury, Chelmsford, CM3 4AB
Received 9 Dec 2013Walton-on-the-Naze WwTW,Walton-on-the-Naze
Received 26 Sept 2003Roxwell Landfill, Brittons Hall Farm, Near Chelmsford, Roxwell, CM1 4LT
Received 20 Oct 2014Burnham on Crouch County Primary School,Dunkirk Road,Burnham on Crouch,CM0 8LG
Received 23 Aug 2007Latton Green County Primary School,Riddings Lane,Latton Green,Harlow,CM18 7HT
Received 12 Mar 2009Land to the south of Colchester Main Road, Alresford, Colchester, Wivenhoe, C07 8DB
Received 30 Nov 2022Unit 2a Templewood,Stock Road,West Hanningfield,Chelmsford,CM2 8LF
Received 24 Sept 2007Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 4 Dec 2018St Johns C of E Primary School,Clay Lane Grove,Colchester,CO4 4HH
Received 16 Dec 1997Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 15 Aug 1994Brightside County Primary School, Brightside, Billericay, CM120LE
Received 18 Jul 2013Auto Spares, Station Yard, Great Bentley Road, Thorrington, CO7 8HY
Received 29 Jun 2026Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 28 Jun 2024Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 6 Dec 2004Land off St Luke's Way, Runwell, Wickford
Received 2 Feb 2022Great Baddow School,Duffield Road,Great Baddow,Chelmsford,CM2 9RZ
Received 15 Nov 2010Birch CofE Primary School,School Hill,Birch,Colchester,CO2 0LZ
Received 21 Feb 2007Records 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