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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Essex, CB11 3SL
Received 5 Jul 2023Elsenham Quarry, Hall Road, ELSENHAM, CM22 6DR
Received 19 Oct 2017Columbus School and College,Patching Hall Lane,Chelmsford,CM1 4BX
Received 26 Oct 2006The Downs Cp School, The Hides, Harlow, CM203RB
Received 16 Sept 2014Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP
Received 8 Aug 2018Alderton Infant and Junior School, Alderton Hall Lane, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3HE
Received 17 Jun 2014Felsted Waste Water Treatment Works,Station Road,Felsted
Received 29 Nov 2004Brook Street,Chelmsford Rail Sidings,New Street,Chelmsford,CM1 1SU
Received 29 Dec 2011Avocet, Shoeburyness MOD, Bridge Road, Shoeburyness, SS3 9XD
Received 25 Nov 2025Westfield Drive,Honywood School,Westfield Drive,Coggeshall,Colchester,CO6 1PZ
Received 11 May 2001Alderton Infant and Junior School, Alderton Hall Lane, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3HE
Received 17 Jun 2014Danbury County Youth Camp,Well Lane,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AB
Received 30 Jun 2011Crown Quarry (Wick Farm), Old Ipswich Road, Ardleigh, CO7 7QR
Received 27 Jan 2020Brightlingsea Quarry, Moverons Lane, Brightlingsea, Colchester, Essex, CO7 0SB
Received 29 Apr 2021Rivenhall Airfield Recycling & Composting Facility, Silver End, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 26 Aug 2008Land at Greenacres, Packards Lane, Wormingford
Received 19 Mar 2020Bulls Lodge Quarry (Park Farm & Brick Farm), Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 23 Jul 2026Alderton Junior and Infant School,Alderton Hall Lane,Loughton,IG10 3HE
Received 22 Dec 2000Kingswood Primary And Nursery School, Clay Hill Road, Basildon, Essex, SS16 5DE
Received 23 Sept 2022St Peters C of E Primary School,Myneer Park,Coggeshall,Colchester,CO6 1YU
Received 29 Jan 2004L J Anderson & Sons Ltd, Foxhall Road, Steeple, Southminster, CM0 7LB
Received 12 Nov 2013Land between Broomfield Hospital/Nash Drive and Goulton Road, Broomfield, Chelmsford
Received 1 Oct 2018Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 30 Mar 2020Ardleigh Waste Transfer Station, A120, Ardleigh, Colchester, CO7 7SL
Received 12 Jan 2022Records 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.

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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