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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Wentworth County Primary School,Maldon,CM9 6JN
Received 12 May 2010Ugley Landfill Site, Cambridge Road, CM22 6HT
Received 16 Dec 2025Felsted County Primary School, Watch House Green, Felsted, Dunmow,Felsted Primary School,Watch House Green,Felsted,Dunmow,CM6 3EB
Received 17 Nov 2004Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 19 May 2020Rivenhall Primary School,Church Road,Rivenhall,Witham,CM8 3PQ
Received 12 Oct 2006Burnham on Crouch County Primary School,Dunkirk Road,Burnham on Crouch,CM0 8LG
Received 29 Jul 1998Brightlingsea Quarry, Moverons Lane, Brightlingsea, CO7 0SB
Received 1 Oct 2018Benfleet Scrap Company Ltd, Caxton House, Harvey Road, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1QJ
Received 12 Jul 2012Land between River Way and A1184 (Cambridge Road), Harlow
Received 27 Jan 2023Gt Waltham C of E CP School,South Street,Gt Waltham,Chelmsford,CM3 1DF
Received 22 Mar 2007Crumps Farm, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, CM6 1SR
Received 12 Mar 2015Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 22 Mar 2016Galleywood Infant School, Barnard Road, Galleywood, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 8RR
Received 14 May 2025Trinity Road Primary School, Trinity Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 6HS
Received 7 Feb 2024Land north of Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, Essex
Received 7 Oct 2013Halstead Anaerobic Digestion Facility, Land north of Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, Essex
Received 3 Aug 2021Tile Kiln Quarry, (Foxborough Hills),Sible Hedingham,Halstead
Received 9 Sept 2002Staples Road Primary School, Staples Road, Loughton, IG101HR
Received 3 Dec 2014Market Field School,School Road,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7ET
Received 17 May 2000Regiment Way Golf Centre,Essex Regiment Way,Little Waltham,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 7 Apr 2010Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 3 Jul 2019Birch Pit, Roundbush Corner, Maldon Road, Colchester, Layer Marney, CO5 9XE
Received 18 Sept 2025Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren lane, Stanway Colchester C03 0NN
Received 31 Aug 2018Beaulieu Park Education Campus site, Chelmsford, Beaulieu
Received 8 Sept 2017Records 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