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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 1 Mar 2024Drakes Farm,Russell Green Reservoir,Drakes Farm,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3BD
Received 2 May 1996Land North of Dry Street, Nethermayne, Basildon
Received 10 Jul 2024The Heybridge Centre,The Street,Heybridge,Maldon,CM9 4NB
Received 6 Jul 2007Saffron Walden Library,Market Place,Saffron Walden,CB10 1HR
Received 12 Jul 2006Clacton County High School, Walton Road, Clacton On Sea, CO15 6DZ
Received 16 Mar 2021Children's Home, Le-Soken Lodge, 274 Harwich Road, Little Clacton CO16 9PY,Children's Home,Le Soken Lodge,274 Harwich Road,Little Clacton,Clacton-on-Sea,CO16 9PY
Received 1 Oct 1997Church Langley Primary School,Church Langley Way,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9TH
Received 26 Jul 2006Bishops Park College,Jaywick Lane,Clacton on Sea,CO16 8BE
Received 12 Jul 2004Colchester Quarry (Bellhouse), Warren Lane, Stanway,, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 18 Apr 2017Former Alderman Blaxhill Secondary School, Paxman Avenue, Colchester, CO2 9DQ
Received 20 Nov 2018Land North Of Generals Lane Roundabout, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HJ
Received 2 Feb 2026Trinity Road Primary School, Trinity Road, Chelmsford Essex CM2 6HS
Received 10 Aug 2022Angel Court High Street Col,Highwoods Community Primary School,Tynedale Square,Highwoods,Colchester,CO4 9SN
Received 11 Apr 1996Rayne Quarry Dunmow Road Braintree, Essex Rayne
Received 23 Sept 2020Halstead Anaerobic Digestion Facility, Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, Essex, CO9 2SZ
Received 13 Mar 2025Noak Bridge Primary School, Coppice Lane, Basildon, SS154JS
Received 15 Jan 2015Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 20 Mar 2026Great Bardfield Primary School, Braintree Road, Great Bardfield, Essex, CM7 4RN
Received 23 Jul 2025Land at Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell on Sea, Southminster, Essex, CM0 7HQ
Received 30 Jun 2021Ugley Landfill Site, Cambridge Road, Ugley, Essex, CM22 6HT
Received 11 Mar 2024Braintree Waste Transfer Station, Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, CM77 8DL
Received 30 Nov 2018Pitsea Marshes Landfill,Pitsea Hall Road,Pitsea,Basildon,SS14 4UH
Received 8 Feb 2002Birch Pit, Roundbush Corner, Maldon Road, Colchester, Layer Marney, CO5 9XE
Received 9 Feb 2024Records 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