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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received Not publishedHighlands Drive, Maldon CM9 6HY,All Saints CE Primary School (London Rd Campus),London Road,Maldon,CM9 6HY
Received 1 Feb 2001Chipping Hill Primary School, Owers Road, Witham, CM8 1FR
Received 16 Sept 2014Waste Transfer and Sorting Site, Wrexham Road, Laindon, Basildon, SS15 6PX
Received 18 Mar 2016Beaulieu Park Education Campus site, Beaulieu, Chelmsford
Received 12 Jun 2018Beckers Green C P School,Beckers Green Road,Braintree,CM7 3PR
Received 7 Oct 2005Tile Kiln Quarry, (Foxborough Hills),Sible Hedingham,Halstead
Received 10 Dec 2002Land adjacent to Rickstones Road, Rivenhall, CM8 2SD
Received 3 Jul 2020Elmstead Hall, Tye Road, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 19 May 2026Lakelands Primary School, Land off Wagtail Mews, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 8AL
Received 14 Oct 2019Land Adjacent to A12,Little Braxted Lane,Witham
Received 22 Mar 2004Land At Martells's Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex CO7 7RU
Received 23 Oct 2018Shenfield Library, Hutton Road, Shenfield, CM15 8NJ
Received 24 Jan 2023Kings Ford County Infant & Junior School,Gloucester Ave,Colchester,CO2 9AZ
Received 14 Aug 2006Martell's Quarry,Ardleigh,Colchester,CO7 7SP
Received 23 Dec 1998Downham C of E School,Church Road,Ramsden Heath,Billericay,CM11 1NU
Received 19 Jul 2004Magnox Electric Plc, Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell-on-sea, Southminster, CM0 7HP
Received 15 May 2012Wells Park School, School Lane, Chigwell, Essex, IG7 6NN
Received 15 Apr 2026Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, CM6 1SL
Received 9 Oct 2014Land adj. The Elms,The Elms,Woolmongers Lane,Blackmore,Ingatestone,CM4 0JX
Received 2 Sept 1997Coopersale & Theydon Garnon C E P School,Brickfield Road,Coopersale Common,Epping,CM16 7QX
Received 14 Feb 2012Mayflower School,Stock Road,Billericay,CM12 0RT
Received 5 Jun 2007Biogen Anaerobic Digestion Facility, Fifth Avenue, Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, CO9 2SZ
Received 11 Jan 2023Lincewood Primary School,Berry Lane,Langdon Hills,Basildon,SS166AZ
Received 12 May 2009Records 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