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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 1 Jul 2020Childerditch Highway Depot,Hall Drive,Childerditch Industrial Park,Brentwood,CM13 3HD
Received 13 Jan 2006Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SL
Received 17 Oct 2023The Plume School, Fambridge Road, Maldon, Essex, CM9 6AB
Received 24 Feb 2025Lakelands Primary School, Land off Wagtail Mews, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 8AL
Received 23 Dec 2019Tree Fella PLC Stewards Yard, Wakering Road, Shoebury, Essex ss 3 9tr,Stewards Yard,Wakering Road,Shoebury,Southend-on-Sea,SS3 9TR
Received 9 Jan 2006Runwell Cp School, Canewdon Gardens, Wickford, SS117BJ
Received 10 Feb 2017Ambulance Station, Chelmsford Road, Dunmow, CM6 1LW
Received 12 Mar 201210 NEW CENTURY ROAD,LAINDON,Basildon
Received 16 Sept 1998Bradwell Quarry Church Road Bradwell Essex CM77 8EP
Received 23 Jun 2022Tye Green Special School,Harlow Fields School,Tendring Road,Harlow,CM18 6RN
Received 19 May 2004Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land east of Sheepcotes Lane
Received 21 Nov 2019Brentwood Sewage Treatment Works, Nags Head Lane, Brentwood, CM14 5NL
Received 5 Nov 2018Bromfords School,Grange Avenue,Wickford,SS12 0LZ
Received 20 Oct 2005White Court Cp School, Ennerdale Avenue, Great Notley, Braintree, CM777UE
Received 23 Feb 2015Plume Academy, Mill Road Campus, Mill Road, CM9 5DU
Received 11 Mar 2025Land on the west side of Winsford Way, Chelmsford, CM2 5AA
Received 22 Oct 2012Land at Bellhouse Farm South
Received 3 Dec 2025Land at Belsteads Farm Lane,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 9 Mar 1995Holy Trinity C of E Primary School,Beridge Road,Halstead
Received 28 Oct 2002Marsh Farm (also 23 Kt 514),South Woodham Ferrers,Chelmsford,CM3 5WP
Received 22 May 2008Barling Marsh Quarry & Landfill, Mucking Hall Road, Barling Magna, SS3 0NR
Received 30 Sept 2021Cherry Tree Primary School, Cherry Tree Primary School, Church Road, Basildon, SS164AG
Received 17 Sept 2001Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 5 Aug 2014Records 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