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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road Rayne, Braintree, Essex CM77 6SB
Received 7 Oct 2022Whitmore County Infant School, Whitmore Way, Basildon, SS14 2TP
Received 30 Nov 1998Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 12 Aug 2019Ryedene Primary School, Ryedene, Off Clover Way, Vange, Basildon, SS164SY
Received 9 Nov 2012Hollow Road,Widdington,Saffron Walden,CB113SL
Received 5 Jun 1989Evegate 1 Thistley Green Road BRAINTREE CM7 9SE
Received 23 Oct 2017A120 Stansted to Braintree scheme
Received 3 Sept 2001Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project, Creeksea Ferry Road, WALLASEA ISLAND, SS4 2HD
Received 25 Jan 2017The Tyrrells School,Tavistock Road,Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6JN
Received 19 Dec 2000Land to the east of Buttleys Lane, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SH
Received 31 Jul 2026Great Bradfords Infant School,Marlborough Road,Braintree,CM7 9LW
Received 23 Mar 2007Notley Green County Primary School,Blickling Road,Great Notley,Braintree,CM7 7LJ
Received 2 Jul 2002Land at Regiment Business Park, Eagle Way, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3FY
Received 19 Jun 2026Bradwell Quarry, Coggeshall Road (A120T), Essex, Bradwell, United Kingdom
Received 5 Dec 2013Land North of Dry Street, Nethermayne, Basildon, Essex
Received 30 Apr 2024Land 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 4 Apr 2024Heathlands Primary School, New Church Road, West Bergholt, Colchester, CO6 3JF
Received 9 Mar 2012Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 15 Jun 2022Colchester County High School for Girls,Norman Way,Colchester,CO3 3US
Received 7 Sept 2004East Mersea Centre for Outdoor Learning,Rewsalls Lane,off East Road,East Mersea,Colchester,CO5 8SY
Received 23 Jan 2009Mundon Sea Wall, Mundon
Received 29 Feb 2016Land at Woolmers,Beazley End Pit,Beazley End,Wethersfield,Braintree
Received 17 Apr 2015Colchester Quarry,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 16 Feb 2005Land at Courtauld Road, basildon, Essex
Received 20 May 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.

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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