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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Ivy Chimneys C P School,Ivy Chimneys Road,Epping,CM16 4EP
Received 29 Feb 2012Langenhoe CPS,Braken Way,Abberton,Colchester,CO5 7PG
Received 30 Mar 2004The Colne Community School, Church Road, Brightlingsea, CO7 0QL
Received 12 Mar 2021Galleywood Infants School,Barnard Road,Galleywood,Chelmsford,CM2 8RR
Received 23 Sept 20082 Benfield Way, Braintree, Essex, CM7 3YS
Received 4 Jul 2025Land forming part of the Rivenhall Airfield/Bradwell Quarry, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree.
Received 9 Feb 2024Roydon C P School,Harlow Road,Harlow,CM19 5HN
Received 18 Jan 2006Alderton County Junior and Infant School, Alderton Hall Lane, Loughton, IG10 3HE
Received 25 May 2017Land to the west of, & adjacent to, Cambridge Road, just to south of the River Stort and Old Road, Cambridge Road, Harlow, CM20 2EU
Received 17 Mar 2021St Andrews C of E Primary School,Mandeville Road,Marks Tey,Colchester,CO6 1HL
Received 20 Jul 2007Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP
Received 27 Nov 2019Millhouse Junior, Infant and Nursery School,Tavistock Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS155QF
Received 26 Jul 2010Magnum House,Swinborne Road,Basildon,SS13 1AX
Received 8 Nov 2007Tavern Garage, The Causeway, Maldon, Essex, CM9 4LJ
Received 4 Mar 2026Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon CM9 8BQ
Received 31 Mar 2023Church Langley Primary School,Church Langley Way,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9TH
Received 13 Jun 2011Great Tey Primary School, Chrismund Way, Great Tey, Colchester, CO6 1AZ
Received 25 Oct 2012Oaklands Infant School,Vicarage Road,Chelmsford,CM2 9PH
Received 7 Aug 2003Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land south of Cuthedge Lane.
Received 17 Jul 2026Tollesbury Marina, The Yacht Harbour,Tollesbury Marina,The Yacht Harbour,Tollesbury,Maldon,CM9 8SE
Received 20 Oct 2011Land at Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 14 Apr 2022Shenfield and Hutton Water Recycling Centre, off Old Church Lane, Shenfield, Brentwood, Essex
Received 16 Oct 2015Ryedene Primary and Nursery School, Ryedene, off Clover Way, Vange, Basildon
Received 6 Nov 2018The King Edmund School,Vaughan Close,Rochford
Received 18 Feb 2002Records 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