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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land to the south of Buttleys Lane, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SH
Received 3 Jun 2026Thorndon Country Park (South),The Avenue,Brentwood,CM13 3RZ
Received 10 Jun 2009Anglo European High School,Willow Green,Ingatestone,CM4 0DJ
Received 17 Apr 2009Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, CO7 7RU.
Received 20 Mar 2018North Primary School & Nursery, John Harper Street, Colchester, CO1 1RP
Received 28 Feb 2012Woodlands Comprehensive School, Takely End, Basildon, SS165BA
Received 7 Mar 2013Wilson Marriage Centre.,Barrack Street,Colchester,CO1 2LR
Received 9 Sept 2004Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 28 Feb 2018Elsenham Sand Quarry,Elsenham Quarry,Hall Rd,Elsenham,Bishops Stortford,CM22 6DJ
Received 14 Jan 2000Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 20 Jul 2022Birchanger CE Primary School,Birchwood,Birchanger,Bishop's Stortford,CM23 5QF
Received 2 Jan 2001St Osyth CofE Primary School,Norman Close,St Osyth,Clacton on Sea,CO16 8PN
Received 14 Aug 2003Martell's Quarry,Ardleigh,Colchester,CO7 7SP
Received 1 Apr 1997The Joyce Frankland Academy, Cambridge Road, Newport, CB11 3TR
Received 20 Sept 2017Heard Environmental, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 27 Jul 2018Land at: Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 8 Apr 2022Plots G4,G5 & G6 & part G7, Purdeys Way, Purdeys way Industrial Estate, Rochford, SS4 1LZ,Purdeys Industrial Estate,Purdeys Way,Rochford
Received 18 Sept 2006Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 14 Jun 2010Gosbecks C P School,Owen Ward Close,Shrub End,Colchester,CO2 9DG
Received 12 Dec 2008The Fitzwimarc School,72 Hockley Road,Rayleigh
Received 29 Nov 2004The area of open space east of Forest Road and north of Yew Close, Witham
Received 11 Jan 2019St. Georges Infant School & Nursery, Barrington Road, Colchester, CO2 7RW
Received 10 Jan 2012Holly Lodge,72 London Road,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0HA
Received 23 Jun 2009Daisy House, Haven Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8HT
Received 21 Aug 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