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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Woodham Walter C of E Primary School,The Street,Woodham Walter,Maldon,CM9 6RF
Received 28 Jan 200220 , Main Road, Danbury, Chelmsford, CM3 4NQ
Received 12 Feb 2015Land at Portsea House Farm, Wash Road, Laindon, SS15 4AZ
Received 20 Aug 2019Elmstead Hall, Elmstead Colchester Essex
Received 24 Nov 2022Waterman Primary School,The Boulevard,Rochford,SS4 1QF
Received 22 Dec 2000Cedar Hall School, Hart Road, Thundersley, Benfleet, Essex, SS7 3UQ
Received 6 Jun 2022Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 3 Sept 2025Lyons Hall School,Deerleap Way,Braintree,CM7 9DH
Received 2 Dec 1998Chapel Farm,Lt Totham,Maldon,CM9 8LX
Received 24 Nov 2003Land at: Inworth Grange Farm Pit, Grange Road, Tiptree, CO5 0QQ
Received 28 Sept 2021Greensted St Andrews Nursery & Infants School,Hickory Avenue,Greenstead,Colchester,CO4 3QJ
Received 21 Sept 2007Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 27 Oct 2016Asheldham Quarry, Tillingham Road, Asheldham, Southminster, CM0 7DZ
Received 29 Aug 2025Writtle Wick Family Centre,62 Chignal Road,Chelmsford,CM1 2JB
Received 16 Aug 2007The King Edmund School,Vaughan Close,Rochford
Received 6 Dec 2002Beauchamps High School,Beauchamps Drive,Wickford,SS1 8LY
Received 25 Apr 2007Chancellor Park Primary School, Brook End Road South, Chelmsford, CM2 6PT
Received 13 Jul 2022Shrub End Closed Landfill Site, Colchester, CO3 4RN
Received 2 Dec 2016Elmstead Hall, Tye Road, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 29 Apr 2025Columbus School and College,Patching Hall Lane,Chelmsford,CM1 4BX
Received 25 Apr 2008Home Farm, Hall Road, Gaunts End, Elsenham, Essex, CM22 6DR
Received 15 Jul 2024Rayleigh County Primary School,Love Lane,Rayleigh
Received 11 Jul 2001Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree CO5 9DF
Received 3 Oct 2022Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 4 Aug 2023Records 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.

Understanding planning · 13 min read
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