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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Dr Walkers CE Primary School,Walker Avenue,Fyfield,Ongar,CM5 0RG
Received 30 Mar 1998Land to the east of Buttleys Lane, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SH
Received 2 Oct 2025Roxwell Quarry Complex, Boyton Cross, Roxwell, Chelmsford, CM1 4LT
Received 10 Oct 2018Hatfield Peverel St Andrew's Junior School, Church Road, Hatfield Peverel, Essex, CM3 2JX
Received 22 Feb 2024Braintree Road,Shalford,Braintree
Received 3 Nov 1994The King John School, Shipwrights Drive, Benfleet, SS7 1RQ
Received 6 Aug 2014Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 19 Oct 2020Land to the east of Buttleys Lane, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SH
Received 28 Mar 2024The Westerings Primary School, Sunny Road, Hawkwell, SS5 4NZ
Received 9 Feb 2018Earls Colne Primary School,Park Lane,Earls Colne,Colchester
Received 5 Jul 2007Land off Ipswich Road, Langham, Essex, CO4 5LZ
Received 5 Sept 2023Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land south of Cuthedge Lane.
Received 14 Jul 2023James Hornsby High School,Leinster Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS155NX
Received 4 Mar 2010Lincewood Primary School,Berry Lane,Langdon Hills,Basildon,SS166AZ
Received 21 Dec 2009Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 25 Mar 2022Vacant Land, Circular Road East, Colchester
Received 21 Aug 2013Brickhouse Farm Community Centre, Poulton Close, Maldon, CM9 6NG
Received 13 Nov 2019Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 23 Jun 2011Land to the west of, & adjacent to, Cambridge Road, just to south of the River Stort and Old Road, Cambridge Road, Harlow, CM20 2EU
Received 28 Apr 2017Park Farm,Park Lane,Tolleshunt Knights,Maldon,CM9 8HB
Received 15 Feb 2002Land forming part of Rivenhall airfield, Bradwell Quarry, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree.
Received 31 Mar 2025Woolmers Farm,Beazley End,Shalford,Braintree
Received 8 Mar 2001Green Recycling Ltd, Quayside Industrial Estate, Bates Road, Maldon, CM9 5FA
Received 5 Sept 2012Bellhouse,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 29 Nov 1982Records 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
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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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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