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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 12 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 adjacent to Rickstones Road, Rivenhall, CM8 2SD
Received 3 Jul 2020Kores Nordic (gb) Ltd, West Road, Harlow, CM202AL
Received 11 Apr 2014Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 27 Apr 2022Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 11 Apr 2022Chelmsford Water Recycling Centre, Brook End Road South, Springfield, Chelmsford, CM2 6NZ
Received 14 Mar 2019Ivy Chimneys C P School,Ivy Chimneys Road,Epping,CM16 4EP
Received 18 Oct 2011Copford CE Primary School,School Road,Copford,Colchester,CO6 1BX
Received 26 May 2006Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 2 Apr 2007Cedar Hall School,Hart Road,Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 3UQ
Received 22 Sept 2006Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, CM9 8BQ
Received 26 Feb 2018Ugley Landfill Site,Ugley Landfill Site,Cambridge Road,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM22 6HT
Received 5 Oct 2000Land off Ipswich Road, Langham, Essex, CO4 5LZ
Received 9 Apr 2024Star Lane Brickworks,Great Wakering,Southend-on-Sea
Received 30 Jul 2003St Johns CE Primary School,High Road,Buckhurst Hill,IG9 5RX
Received 1 Feb 1999Pitsea Landfill, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Essex, SS16 4UH
Received 6 Dec 2022Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren lane, Stanway Colchester C03 0NN
Received 1 Feb 2018Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 11 May 2015Ash Grove Underpass,A120 Stansted to Braintree scheme
Received 3 Sept 2001Kirby Primary School,Halstead Road,Kirby Cross,Frinton on Sea,CO13 0LW
Received 19 Nov 2009Notley High School,Notley High School,Notley Road,Braintree,CM7 1HL
Received 17 Apr 2003Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 10 Jul 1992Lock up garages off St John's Rd,Epping Library and Register Office,St Johns Road,Epping,CM16 5DN
Received 18 Feb 2008Roxwell Quarry Complex, Boyton Cross, Roxwell, Chelmsford, CM1 4LT
Received 20 Dec 2017Land allocated for a new primary school under Land South of Limebrook Way and East of Maldon Wick, Maldon, Essex
Received 5 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
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