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.
6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 5 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 13 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 to the east of Buttleys Lane, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SH
Received 3 Dec 2024Land at Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, CO7 7RU
Received 4 Feb 2021Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 10 Feb 2012Russell Green Reservoir,Russell Green Reservoir,Drakes Farm,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3BD
Received 16 Mar 1998The King John School, Shipwrights Drive, Benfleet, SS7 1RQ
Received 30 Jan 2015Notley High School,Notley High School,Notley Road,Braintree,CM7 1HL
Received 7 Jul 2010Waste Transfer Station, West Road, Harlow, CM20 2AL
Received 2 Nov 2016Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 20 Jan 2016Felsted Primary School,Watch House Green,Felsted,Dunmow,CM6 3EB
Received 23 Nov 2007Gt Sampford Primary School,Finchingfield Road,Saffron Walden,CB10 2RL
Received 29 May 2003Boswells School,Burnham Road,Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6LY
Received 17 Oct 2006Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 12 Oct 2012Noak Bridge Primary School,Coppice Lane,Basildon,SS154JS
Received 29 Oct 2008Unit 4, Kings Haven,Kings Road,Charfleets Industrial Estate,Canvey,SS8 0QW
Received 12 May 2011St Peters C of E Primary School,Myneer Park,Coggeshall,Colchester,CO6 1YU
Received 19 Nov 1998Stansted to Braintree A120,Braintree
Received 27 Oct 2000A13/A130 Sadlers Farm Junction,London Road,Basildon
Received 14 May 2012Former Severalls Hospital Site (Phase 3), Northern Approach Road, Colchester, Essex
Received 4 Aug 2016Janet Duke Primary School,Markhams Chase,Laindon,Basildon,SS155LS
Received 27 Nov 2003Elm Hall Cp School, Conrad Road, Witham, CM8 2SD
Received 14 Jun 2013Harlow Central Library,Cross Street,The High,Harlow,CM20 1HA
Received 11 Jan 2000Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project, Creeksea Ferry Road, WALLASEA ISLAND, SS4 2HD
Received 7 Feb 2017Land at Colemans Farm, Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 29 Jul 2016Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 28 Jun 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