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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Felmore Infant School,Felmore Primary School,Davenants,Pitsea,Basildon,SS131QZ
Received 30 Nov 2000Land at former Queen Street Bus Depot, Queen Street, Colchester, CO1 2PQ
Received 1 Apr 2026Whites Yard, Archers Fields Close, Basildon, SS13 1DN
Received 21 Mar 2016Elsenham Quarry, Hall Road, Elsenham, CM22 6DR
Received 27 Nov 2017R A Butler School, South Road, Saffron Walden, CB113DG
Received 11 Nov 2015Great Berry Primary School,Forest Glade,Langdon Hills,Basildon,SS16 6SG
Received 8 Aug 1995Heatherland Composting,Stondon Hall Farm,Stondon Massey,Ongar,CM15 0LD
Received 20 Oct 2010Staples Road Primary School, Staples Road, Loughton, IG101HR
Received 21 Jul 2015Land to the south of Colchester Main Road, Alresford, Nr Colchester, C07 8DB
Received 1 Mar 2022Yard 1 & 2,Runwood Road,Charfleets Ind Est,Canvey,SS8 0PL
Received 2 Feb 1998The Maples, 3 Hodings Road, Harlow, Essex, CM20 1AT
Received 14 Oct 2024Land north of Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, Essex
Received 30 Sept 2013Land at Chigborough Quarry,Chigborough & Draper's Fms; Saltcote & Rook Halls,Maldon,CM9 4QX
Received 20 Nov 2006Writtle Junior School,Writtle Junior School,Margaretting Road,Writtle,Chelmsford,CM1 3HG
Received 3 May 2000Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, Essex, CM77 8EP
Received 19 Mar 2015Hill Farm, Broomfield, Chelmsford,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 24 May 1999Land adjacent to Glenwood Special School, Rushbottom Lane, Thundersley, Benfleet, SS7 4LW
Received 2 Nov 2015See ESS 62 01 EPF,Ongar Landfill Site,Mill Lane,Ongar,CM5 9RG
Received 10 Jul 2001Wallasea Island,Rochford,SS4 2HD
Received 23 Aug 2012The Plume School, Fambridge Road, Maldon, Essex, CM9 6AB
Received 28 Mar 2025Stanway Pit. Church Lane,Unit 7, Regal Works,Plummers Road,Fordham,Colchester,CO6 3NS
Received Not publishedJanet Duke Primary School,Markhams Chase,Laindon,Basildon,SS155LS
Received 25 Jan 2002Stansted to Braintree A120,Braintree
Received 27 Oct 2000Kendall Primary School, Recreation Road, Colchester, CO1 2HH
Received 22 Jul 2020Records 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
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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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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