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.
6,823 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 5 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 11 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Great Bradfords Infant School,Marlborough Road,Braintree,CM7 9LW
Received 16 Nov 1998Glenwood School, Rushbottom Lane, Thundersley, Benfleet, Essex, SS7 4LW
Received 19 Aug 2024Sewage Works, Beeches Road, Rawreth, Essex, SS11 8TJ
Received 16 Oct 2015High Beech C of E Primary School,Mott Street,Loughton,IG10 4AP
Received 8 Oct 2004Passmores School and Technology College,Tendring Road,Harlow,CM18 6RW
Received 14 Jul 2011Pitsea Landfill, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, SS16 4UH
Received 3 Jul 2014Stapleford Abbotts Primary School,Stapleford Road,Stapleford Abbotts,Romford,RM4 1EJ
Received 9 Oct 2007Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 28 Apr 2021Land to the south of Terminus Drive, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, SS16 4UH
Received 6 Mar 2015Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 21 Oct 2004John Ray Infant and Junior School, Notley Road, Braintree, Essex, CM7 1HL
Received 29 Jan 2015Myland County Primary School,Mill Road,Mile End,Colchester,CO4 5LD
Received 4 Jul 2001Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 4 Jan 2022Doddinghurst County Junior School,Church Lane,Doddinghurst,Brentwood,CM15 ONJ
Received 21 Nov 2003Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, CO7 7EX
Received 8 Mar 2019St Faiths Hospital,Former St Faiths Hospital,London Road,Brentwood,CM14 4QP
Received 13 Jan 1998Bradwell Quarry Church Road Bradwell Essex CM77 8EP
Received 23 Jun 2022Armigers Farm,Thaxted
Received 14 Feb 2001Springfield Primary School,Forsythia Close,Chelmsford,CM1 6XW
Received 28 Mar 2007Fairview,Magpie Lane,Little Warley,Brentwood,CM13 3DT
Received 29 Jun 2006Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road Rayne, Braintree, Essex CM77 6SB
Received 13 May 2022St Johns CE Primary School,High Road,Buckhurst Hill,IG9 5RX
Received 28 Jan 1998Pitsea Landfill, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Essex, SS16 4UH
Received 9 Jan 2023Northwick Park Junior School,Third Avenue,Canvey
Received 21 Apr 2004Records 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