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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Chapel Farm, Lt Totham, Maldon. CM9 8LX,Chapel Farm,Lt Totham,Maldon,CM9 8LX
Received 25 Sept 2000Auto Spares, Station Yard, Great Bentley Road, Thorrington, CO7 8HY
Received 28 Sept 2020Blackleys Quarry, (Essex Show Ground),Great Leighs,Chelmsford,CM3 1QB
Received 12 Jun 200639 Town House, East Stockwell Street, Colchester, CO1 1SS
Received 5 Feb 2019Brickhouse Farm Community Centre, Poulton Close, Maldon, CM9 6NG
Received 13 Nov 2019Richard De Clare Primary School,Parsonage Street,Halstead,CO9 2JT
Received 22 Oct 1998St John Fisher Catholic Primary School,Burney Drive,Loughton,IG10 2DY
Received 20 Jan 2006Kirby Primary School,Halstead Road,Kirby Cross,Frinton on Sea,CO13 0LW
Received 7 Apr 2005Anaerobic Digestion Plant, Marsh Farm, Vange by-Pass, Vange, SS16 4QG
Received 28 Jul 2017Chelmer Valley High School,Court Road,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM1 7ER
Received 26 Apr 2010St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 3 Mar 2009Land adjacent to Rickstones Road, Rivenhall, CM8 2SD
Received 3 Jul 2020The Downs Cp School, The Hides, Harlow, CM203RB
Received 16 Sept 2014Market Field School,School Road,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7ET
Received 12 Sept 2007Land to the south of Colchester Main Road, Nr Wivenhoe, Alresford, Essex, CO7 8DB
Received 27 Aug 2025Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 17 Sept 2010Boswells School,Burnham Road,Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6LY
Received 29 Jun 2009Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 30 Jul 2024Halstead Anaerobic Digestion Facility, Land North of Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, Essex
Received 19 Jan 2015St Mary's School, High Stile, Great Dunmow,St Marys Primary School,High Stile,Dunmow,CM6 1EB
Received 26 May 2004Lakelands Primary School, Land off Wagtail Mews Stanway, Colchester, CO3 8AL
Received 16 Jul 2020Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 20 Nov 2023Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 3 Sept 202519-21 Bocking End,Braintree,CM7 9AE
Received 24 Nov 2003Records 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