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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Rayne, Braintree, Essex, CM77 6SB
Received 14 Mar 2024Bellhouse and Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 17 Jun 2003Pear Tree Mead Primary School, Trotters Road, Harlow, CM18 7BY
Received 30 Dec 2015Hollow Road,Widdington,Saffron Walden,CB113SL
Received 12 Dec 2001Newport C P School,Frambury Lane,Newport,Saffron Walden
Received 30 Mar 2005Brittons Hall Farm, Roxwell,Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 17 Mar 1999Frobisher Primary & Nursery School,Frobisher Drive,Jaywick,Clacton on Sea,CO15 2QH
Received 25 Jul 2001Burrsville County Infant School, Craigfield Avenue, Clacton-on-sea, CO154HR
Received 9 May 2016Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 24 Nov 2022Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 31 Oct 2014Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land south of Cuthedge Lane.
Received 13 Aug 2025Ravens Academy, Nayland Drive, Clacton on Sea, CO16 8TZ
Received 9 May 2017Nazeing Quarry,Green Lane,Nazeing,Waltham Abbey,EN10 6TD
Received 21 Oct 1959Leigh Beck County Junior and Infant Schools & Nursery,Point Road,Canvey,SS8 7TD
Received 28 Jun 2005The William de Ferrers School,Trinity Square,South Woodham Ferrers,Chelmsford,CM3 5JU
Received 22 Dec 2010Goodman House, Station Approach Harlow, Essex, CM20 2ET
Received 28 Apr 2022Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project, Creeksea Ferry Road, Wallasea Island, SS4 2HD
Received 2 Apr 2020Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 9 Dec 2019St Andrews C of E Primary School,Mandeville Road,Marks Tey,Colchester,CO6 1HL
Received 2 Jun 2004Veolia ES (UK) Ltd, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Essex, SS16 4UH
Received 2 Mar 2023Church Wall,St.Andrews Church,Halstead
Received 24 May 2000Land at Martins Farm Closed Landfill Site, CO16 8HN
Received 6 Dec 2016Stondon Hall Farm,Heatherland Composting,Stondon Hall Farm,Stondon Massey,Ongar,CM15 0LD
Received 12 Mar 1997Lufkins Farm,Thorrington Road,Great Bentley,Colchester,CO7 7HN
Received 23 May 2008Records 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.

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