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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Wethersfield Primary School,Silver Street,Wethersfield,Braintree
Received 27 May 2002Frobisher Primary & Nursery School,Frobisher Drive,Jaywick,Clacton on Sea,CO15 2QH
Received 30 Apr 2009Whitmore Junior & Infant School, Whitmore Way, Basildon, SS142TP
Received 29 Feb 2016Holy Trinity C of E Primary School,Beridge Road,Halstead
Received 2 Dec 2002Rivenhall Airfield Recycling & Composting Facility, Silver End, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 6 Sept 2012Recycling Centre for Household Waste,Waterside Farm,Canvey Road,Canvey,SS8 0QA
Received 29 Jan 1999Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 25 Jul 2019Bulls Lodge Quarry (Boreham Airfield), Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 19 Jun 2025Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 21 May 2018The Sweyne Park School, Sir Walter Raleigh Drive Rayleigh SS6 9BZ
Received 16 Mar 2021Land off Dobbs Weir Road,Netherhall Farm,Low Hill,Roydon,Harlow,CM19 5JP
Received 13 Nov 1992B Lodge, Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Nr Great Dunmow
Received 24 Jan 2017Land to the south of Colchester Main Road, Alresford, Nr Colchester, C07 8DB
Received 1 Mar 2022Land to West of Sixth Form Centre, The King John School,King John School,Shipwrights Drive,Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 1RQ
Received 7 Mar 2003Maldon County Primary School,Wantz Close,Maldon,CM9 5DQ
Received 7 Mar 2005Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 2 Aug 2012Clarance House,22 Watling Street,Thaxted,Dunmow,CM6 2PJ
Received 12 Nov 2003Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Dunmow CM6 1SL
Received 11 Apr 2023Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project Creeksea Ferry Road Wallasea Island SS4 2HD
Received 21 Nov 2019Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received Not publishedHighwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 17 Feb 2020Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, Braintree, CM778DL
Received 13 Nov 2013Elsenham C Of E School, High Street, Elsenham, Bishop's Stortford, CM226DD
Received 12 Jan 2015Land South Of Great Yeldham Hall, Church Road. Great Yeldham, Essex, CO9 4PX
Received 2 Dec 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.

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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