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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
The Hereward County Primary School, Colebrook Lane, Loughton, IG102HR
Received 1 Mar 2013Helena Romanes School, Parsonage Downs Great Dunmow, CM6 2AU
Received 1 Mar 2021Halstead Anaerobic Digestion Facility, Land north of Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, Essex
Received 29 Aug 2018Bradwell Power Station, Downhall Beach, Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex, CM0 7HP
Received 4 Aug 2023Braintree Waste Transfer Station, Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, CM77 8DL
Received 30 Nov 2018Land north of Bluebridge Industrial Estate,Halstead,CM9 2SZ
Received 7 Jun 2013Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, Colchester, Essex, CO7 9JU
Received 13 Feb 2013Land at: Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex.
Received 18 Nov 2019St Osyth CofE Primary School,Norman Close,St Osyth,Clacton on Sea,CO16 8PN
Received 4 Mar 2010Bradfield County Primary School,Heath Rd,Bradfield,Manningtree,CO11 2UZ
Received 31 May 2001Land at Bellhouse Farm South
Received 30 Jan 2025Coopersale & Theydon Garnon C E P School,Brickfield Road,Coopersale Common,Epping,CM16 7QX
Received 14 Feb 2012Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, Braintree, CM778DL
Received 27 Jan 2014Gt Holts Farm,Gt Holts & Wallaces Farm,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3AU
Received 29 Mar 1996LAND ADJACENT TO JAYWICK LANE,Clacton-on-Sea
Received 24 Jul 2001Moulsham High, Junior & Infant School,Brian Close,Chelmsford,CM2 9ES
Received 22 Dec 2000Land north of Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, Essex
Received 6 Feb 2014Woodham Walter C of E Primary School,The Street,Woodham Walter,Maldon,CM9 6RF
Received 17 May 2001Holt Farm Junior School, Ashingdon Road, Rochford, SS4 1RS
Received 14 Nov 2011Cedar Hall School,Hart Road,Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 3UQ
Received 18 Jan 2010Colchester Quarry, DSM Plant, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 14 Mar 2014A127/A130 Fairglen Interchange
Received 8 May 2025Army and Navy Flyover, Chelmsford
Received 10 Jan 2020Anglian Water Services Ltd, Basildon Sewage Treatment Works, Courtauld Road, Basildon, SS131DB
Received 18 Apr 2013Records 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