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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
East Essex Adult Community College,The Friary,Chequers Lane,Maldon,CM9 5EJ
Received 22 Jul 2004Tendring Adult Community Centre,Tendring Adult Community College,St Osyth Road,Clacton on Sea,CO15 3BN
Received 1 Sept 2003East Essex Adult Community College, The Friary, Carmelite Way, Maldon, Essex, CM9 5FJ
Received 9 Jun 2015Land to the North of Hovefields Court, Hovefields Avenue, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1EB
Received 29 Apr 2016Veolia Environmental Services, Archers Fields, Pitsea, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1DN
Received 5 May 2026Stanway Primary School, Colchester, CO3 0RH
Received 27 Feb 2017Shorefields School,114 Holland Rd,Clacton on Sea,CO15 6HF
Received 23 Aug 2007Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Essex, CB11 3SL
Received 24 Jun 2026Bellhouse Quarry And Landfill Site, Bellhouse Landfill Site 2 Warren Lane, Stanway Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 23 Jan 2024Stapleford Abbotts Primary School,Stapleford Road,Stapleford Abbotts,Romford,RM4 1EJ
Received 15 Aug 2002Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 9 Dec 2021Our Lady of Ransom RC Primary School,Little Wheatley Chase,London Road,Rayleigh,SS6 9EH
Received 23 Feb 2001Mountfitchet Maths & Computing College,Forest Hall Road,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM248TZ
Received 14 Mar 2006Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 15 Sept 2003Park Farm,Martell's Quarry,Ardleigh,Colchester,CO7 7SP
Received 26 Feb 1996Hedingham School,Yeldham Road,Sible Hedingham,Halstead,CO9 3QH
Received 2 Dec 2004Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 8 Apr 2024Kingswode Hoe School,Sussex Road,Lexden,Colchester,CO3 3QJ
Received 23 Aug 2007St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 14 Mar 2017Birch Airfield
Received 6 Oct 2004Former LECA Works. Mill Lane,Ongar Landfill Site,Mill Lane,Ongar,CM5 9RG
Received 29 May 1996Bradwell Pit,Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 7 Nov 1995Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 12 Sept 2025Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 31 Mar 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
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