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.
6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 5 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 14 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Ongar Landfill Site,Mill Lane,Ongar,CM5 9RG
Received 3 Dec 2001Land forming part of Kingsmoor playing field, Parndon Wood Road, Harlow
Received 5 Feb 2018Silver End CP School, School Road, Silver End, Witham, CM8 3RZ
Received 27 Aug 2015Pitsea Junior School,High Road,Pitsea,Basildon,SS133AB
Received 13 Jan 2010Land allocated for a new primary school under Land South of Limebrook Way and East of Maldon Wick, Maldon, Essex
Received 16 Oct 2023The Notley High School,Notley High School,Notley Road,Braintree,CM7 1HL
Received 14 May 2002Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 5 Aug 2014Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, CO7 7EX
Received 26 Jan 2021Ghyllgrove County Junior School, The Gore, Basildon, Essex, SS14 2BG
Received 15 Jul 2016County Hall Site,Market Road,Chelmsford,CM1 1QH
Received 28 Jun 2002Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, CO7 9JU
Received 29 Sept 2017Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 24 Oct 2023Land at Bellhouse Farm South
Received 30 Jan 2025Wallasea Island,Rochford,SS4 2HD
Received 9 Sept 2012St Osyth CofE Primary School,Norman Close,St Osyth,Clacton on Sea,CO16 8PN
Received 13 Feb 2006Tuskite Works, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Essex, SS16 4UH
Received 30 Jul 2015Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 25 Jun 2007Greyfriars Adult Community College,High Street,Colchester
Received 8 Aug 2005Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, Colchester, Essex. CO7 9JU
Received 15 Mar 2018Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 18 May 2015Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 18 Jun 2024Boswells School,Burnham Road,Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6LY
Received 25 Feb 2005Arnolds Farm, 221 Ongar Road, Lambourne, Romford, RM4 1RH
Received 28 Nov 2022Patterns Yard,Nayland Road,West Bergholt,Colchester,CO6 3DG
Received 12 Dec 2011Records 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