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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Adult Community Learning Centre,Spinks Lane,Witham,CM8 1EP
Received 15 Mar 2005Manning Grove,Carrington Road,Great Bromley,Colchester,CO7 7UZ
Received 9 Jan 2008Blackley Quarry, and land to the north east and north west of the existing quarry, A131, Great Leighs, CM3 1QP
Received 6 Aug 201811, Freebournes Road, Witham, CM8 3UN
Received 12 Jan 2015Preferred Area K, Liitle Easton,Little Easton Airfield,Little Easton,Dunmow,CM6 2BB
Received 13 Feb 2012Kirby-le-soken Primary School, Halstead Road, Kirby Cross, Frinton-on-sea, CO130LW
Received 10 May 2013The Spinney Junior & Infants School,Cooks Spinney,Harlow,CM20 3BW
Received 27 Jan 2010Cedar Hall School,Hart Road,Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 3UQ
Received 21 Aug 2001Land at Greenacres, Packards Lane, Wormingford. At Greenacres, Warehouse, Packards Lane, Wormingford, Essex, CO6 3AH
Received 28 Jul 2026The Joyce Frankland Academy, Cambridge Road, Newport, CB11 3TR
Received 21 Sept 2017St Mary's School,Reeve Road,Foresthall Park,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM24 8SJ
Received 28 May 2012Land 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 24 Apr 2026Howbridge CE Junior School (also CM8 1DJ),Howbridge Road,Witham,CM8 1BZ
Received 10 Mar 1998Bentfield County Primary School,Rainsford Rd,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM24 8DX
Received 17 Mar 2008Land between Broomfield Hospital/Nash Drive and Goulton Road, Broomfield, Chelmsford
Received 27 Nov 2018Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School, Queens Road, Brentwood, CM14 4EX
Received 9 Nov 2021Bulls Lodge Quarry
Received 7 Aug 2006Brickhouse Farm Community Centre, Poulton Close, Maldon, CM9 6NG
Received 13 Nov 2019Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 28 Feb 1992The Downs Primary School and Nursery, The Hides, Harlow, Essex, CM20 3RB
Received 14 May 2014Brightlingsea Quarry, Moverons Lane, Brightlingsea, Colchester, CO7 0SB
Received 24 Sept 2012Children's Home,Le Soken Lodge,274 Harwich Road,Little Clacton,Clacton-on-Sea,CO16 9PY
Received 5 Aug 1999Brickfields Way,Purdeys Industrial Estate,Purdeys Way,Rochford
Received 1 Aug 2003De La Salle School and Language College, Ghyllgrove, Basildon, SS142LA
Received 9 Dec 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.

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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