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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 19 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 25 Jul 2019Helena Romanes School, Parsonage Downs, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 2AU
Received 14 Mar 2023Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill, Mucking Hall Road, Barling Magna
Received 21 Dec 2016Harlowbury Primary School Site, Gilden Way, Harlow
Received 15 Jul 2025Freshwaters Primary Academy Broadfields School, School Lane, Harlow, CM20 3QA
Received 13 Feb 2018A120 Stansted to Braintree scheme
Received 3 Sept 2001St Peters Cof E Primary School,Carters Hill,Boxted, Colchester,CO4 5YN
Received 18 Apr 2005Chappel Bridge,The Street,Chappel,Colchester,CO6
Received 23 Jul 2010Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 20 May 2015Laindon Park C P S,Church Hill,Laindon,Basildon,SS155SE
Received 21 Jan 2008St George's Infants School,Barrington Rd,Colchester,CO2 7RW
Received 26 May 2005St Peters High School,Southminster Road,Burnham on Crouch,CM0 8QB
Received 6 Oct 2000Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 25 Jun 2021Chime Nursery, Old Nazeing Road, Nazeing
Received 22 Jul 1975Lakelands Primary School, Land off Wagtail Mews, Stanway Colchester, CO3 8AL
Received 19 Jun 2020Friars Grove Primary School, Upland Drive, Colchester, CO4 0PZ
Received 14 Sept 2020Colchester Quarry,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 17 Oct 2012Felsted Waste Water Treatment Works,Station Road,Felsted
Received 14 Dec 2002Land at Colemans Farm, Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 29 Jul 2016Belsteads Farm Lt Waltham,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 28 Aug 1998Hockley Farm,Church Road,Frating,Colchester,CO7 7HG
Received 26 Nov 2003Radwinter C E Primary School,Water Lane,Radwinter,Saffron Walden
Received 22 Aug 2002Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 15 Oct 2025Church Langley Primary School, Church Langley Way, Harlow, CM17 9TH
Received 22 May 2017Records 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.

Understanding planning · 13 min read
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