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6,823 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Elsenham Quarry,Hall Rd,Elsenham,Bishops Stortford,CM22 6DJ
Received 29 Oct 2002De Vere Primary School, Kirby Hall Road, Castle Hedingham, Halstead, CO9 3EA
Received 23 Sept 2016Whitmore Junior & Infant School, Whitmore Way, Basildon, SS142TP
Received 24 Nov 2016Chase Lane Primary School,Chase Lane,Dovercourt,Harwich,CO12 4NB
Received 21 Oct 2008Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge Roundabout on A131, Great & Little Leighs Parish, to the north east of Chelmsford.
Received 19 Sept 2025Royal Oak Quarry, Woodham Mortimer, Danbury, Essex, CM3 4RJ
Received 16 Sept 2015Richard De Clare Primary School,Parsonage Street,Halstead,CO9 2JT
Received 22 Oct 2002Beaulieu Park Education Campus site, Chelmsford, Beaulieu
Received 8 Sept 2017Boreham Proving Ground, Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 29 Nov 2017Ongar Landfill Site,Ongar Landfill Site,Mill Lane,Ongar,CM5 9RG
Received 1 Jun 1992Land at Sandon Quarry, Southend, Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 22 Dec 201725 Kempe Road,Finchingfield CofE Primary School,Vicarage Road,Finchingfield,Braintree,CM7 4LD
Received 13 Nov 2003Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 8 Apr 2024Chigborough Quarry,Chigborough & Draper's Fms; Saltcote & Rook Halls,Maldon,CM9 4QX
Received 5 Feb 1997Blackley Quarry, Land to the north east and north west, A131, Great Leighs, CM3 1QP
Received 20 Jul 2016Chase Bungalow, Church Road, Ramsden Heath, Billericay, CM11 1PW
Received 6 May 2020S R C Aggregates, Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, CM6 1SL
Received 18 Feb 2014Roxwell Quarry Complex, Boyton Cross, Roxwell, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 4LT
Received 13 Sept 2018Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Dec 2020See ESS/11/00/col,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 18 Sept 2014Sandon Quarry, Molrams Lane, Sandon, Essex, CM2 7TE
Received 19 Sept 2013Land at Andrewes Way, Wolsey Park, Rayleigh, Essex
Received 19 Jun 2025The Notley Green Primary School, Blickling Road,Notley Green County Primary School,Blickling Road,Great Notley,Braintree,CM7 7LJ
Received 24 Aug 2000Pear Tree Mead Primary School, Trotters Road, Harlow, CM18 7BY
Received 9 Feb 2016Records 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