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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Heard Environmental, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 23 Aug 2018Land south of A1060 (Salt’s Green), Chalk End, Roxwell, Chelmsford, CM1 4NJ
Received 19 Jun 2024Birch Pit, Maldon Road, Birch, CO5 9XE
Received 21 Dec 2018Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 6 Jun 2013Land 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 13 Feb 2025Alderton Infant and Junior School, Alderton Hall Lane, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3HE
Received 2 Jul 2014Epping Primary School,Coronation Hill,Epping,CM16 5DU
Received 9 Jul 2004Witham Library, Newland Street, Witham,Land corner of Avenue Road & Newland Street,Witham
Received 25 Oct 1999Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 18 Mar 2022Lexden Springs School,Halstead Road,Colchester,CO3 9AB
Received 8 May 2006Great Easton C of E (Aided) Primary School,Snow Hill,Great Easton,Dunmow,CM6 2DR
Received 21 Jul 2006Thorndon Countryside Centre, The Avenue, Warley, CM133RZ
Received 27 Mar 2015Hillhouse Primary School, Waltham Abbey, EN9 3EL
Received 19 Mar 2014Bellcroft,Bellcroft,Eastways Ind. Estate,Witham
Received 27 Aug 1996Lakelands Primary School, Land off Wagtail Mews, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 8AL
Received 13 Nov 2019Springfield Primary School, Forsythia Close, Chelmsford, CM1 6XW
Received 8 Oct 2015Arnolds Farm, 221 Ongar Road, Lambourne, Romford, RM4 1RH
Received 28 Nov 2022Hillhouse Primary School, Waltham Abbey, EN9 3EL
Received 19 Mar 2014Daisy House, The Hythe, Colchester, CO2 8HT
Received 28 Jul 2017Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 21 Feb 2020High Easter Sewage Treatment Works, Adjacent to School Lane, High Easter
Received 16 May 2014Boreham Proving Ground, Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 15 Sept 2017Bellhouse Landfill,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 24 Nov 1999James Waste Management, Purdeys Industrial Estate, Brickfields Way, Rochford, Essex, SS4 1NB
Received 2 Oct 2020Records 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