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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Ugley Landfill Site, Cambridge Road, Ugley, Essex, CM22 6HT
Received 11 Mar 2024Halstead Anaerobic Digestion Facility, Land North of Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, Essex
Received 19 Jan 2015Buckhurst Hill Community Primary School,Lower Queens Road,Buckhurst Hill,IG9 6DS
Received 15 Jan 1998Holland Haven Primary School,Primrose Road,Holland on Sea,Clacton on Sea,CO15 5PP
Received 4 Jun 2007Downham C of E School,Church Road,Ramsden Heath,Billericay,CM11 1NU
Received 2 Jun 1999Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 24 Jul 2025St John Fisher Catholic Primary School,Burney Drive,Loughton,IG10 2DY
Received 17 Jan 2007Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 27 Aug 2025Land situated off Walnut Tree Way
Received 8 Dec 2022Bishop William Ward School, 22, Coach Road, Great Horkesley, Colchester, CO6 4AT
Received 26 Feb 2013Shalford Landfill Site,Braintree Road,Shalford,Braintree
Received 6 Sept 1995Pitsea Waste Management Site,Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 16 Mar 1995Purford Green Primary School,Purford Green,Harlow,CM18 6HP
Received 1 Jun 2011Thundersley Infant School,Dark Lane,Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 3PT
Received 22 Mar 2007Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 9 Dec 2019Wickford Downtowner Youth Centre, Irvon Hill, Wickford
Received Not publishedGreensted Junior School,Kirby Road,Basildon,SS141RX
Received 2 Feb 2007Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 14 Sept 2020St Andrews C of E Primary School,Mandeville Road,Marks Tey,Colchester,CO6 1HL
Received 22 Dec 2000Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 31 Mar 2011Land adjacent to Chelmsford City Racecourse, Great Leighs, Chelmsford, CM3 1QP
Received 18 May 2021Benfleet Scrap Company Ltd, Caxton House, Harvey Road, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1QJ
Received 12 Jul 2012Blackley Quarry, and land to the north east and north west of the existing quarry, A131, Great Leighs, CM3 1QP
Received 16 Oct 2025Market Field School, School Road, Elmstead, Colchester, CO7 7ET
Received 26 Sept 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.

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