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6,823 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
The Spinney County Infants School, Cooks Spinney, Harlow, CM20 3BW
Received 2 Jul 2019St Margarets CE Primary School,Church Lane,Toppesfield,Halstead,CO9 4DS
Received 30 Apr 2008Land at Royal Oak Quarry, Maldon Road, Woodham Mortimer
Received 16 Jun 2017Unit 6 Grafton Place,Dukes Park Industrial Estate,Chelmsford,CM2 6TG
Received 6 Feb 2007Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 12 Apr 2024Abaco House, Foxhall Road, Southminster, CM0 7LB
Received 22 Oct 2019Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 15 Nov 2024Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, Colchester, Essex. CO7 9JU
Received 1 Apr 2019Cordons Farm,Long Green,Ashes Road,Cressing,Braintree,CM778DL
Received 5 Jul 2011Harveys Farm, Old Ipswich Road, Colchester. CO7 7QS
Received 30 Jul 2009Longwood Primary School, Paringdon Road, Harlow, Essex CM18 7RQ
Received 3 Jul 2017Riverside Primary School,Ferry Road,Hullbridge,Hockley,SS5 6ND
Received 17 May 2005Perryfields Junior School, Lawn Lane, Chelmsford, CM1 7PP
Received 26 Apr 201215 Church Street (Temp Library),Saffron Walden,CB10 1JW
Received 16 Mar 2007Land allocated for a new primary school under Land South of Limebrook Way and East of Maldon Wick, Maldon, Essex
Received 5 Apr 2023Hilltop County Infants School, Hill Avenue, Wickford, SS11 8LT
Received 2 Sept 1997Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne, CM77 6SA
Received 13 Nov 2024Maldon Essex Adult Community College,Maldon Youth Centre, Carmelite Way,Maldon,CM9 5GF
Received 8 Aug 2005Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 30 Jan 2024Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 28 Jul 2014Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 22 Aug 2013Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 28 Jul 2026Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge roundabout on A131, Great Leighs Parish, to NE Chelmsford.
Received 4 Feb 2025Land to the east of Guilfords, Harlow, Essex, CM17 0HX
Received 21 Apr 2023Records 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
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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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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