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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 13 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 10 Jul 2003Land south of A1060 (Salt’s Green), Chalk End, Roxwell, Chelmsford, CM1 4NJ
Received 12 Oct 2022Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Dec 2020James Hornsby High School,Leinster Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS155NX
Received 19 Oct 2010Lufkins Farm, Frating and Brook Farm, Great Bentley, Colchester
Received 21 Aug 2015Beaulieu Park Education Campus Site, Beaulieu, Chelmsford
Received 23 Jan 2017Weald Park Visitors Centre, Weald Country Park, Weald Road, South Weald, Essex, CM14 5QS
Received 10 May 2023Theydon Bois County Primary School,Orchard Drive,Theydon Bois,Epping,CM16 7DF
Received 22 Dec 2000Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 8 Apr 2003Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HR
Received 29 Apr 2025Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 4 Apr 2002Tank 142m From Little Warley Hall Ranks Green. 170, Ranks Green Road, FAIRSTEAD, CM3 2BG
Received 5 Apr 2017Laindon Former Police Station Site,New Century Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS156AG
Received 4 Jun 1999Lyons Hall School,Deerleap Way,Braintree,CM7 9DH
Received 25 Jun 1999Barling Quarry,Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 30 Mar 1995Richard De Clare Primary School,Parsonage Street,Halstead,CO9 2JT
Received 22 Dec 2005Chelmsford Training Centre,Adult Training Centre,Ravensbourne Drive,Chelmsford,CM1 2SL
Received 30 Jul 2001Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 23 Sept 2016Veolia ES (UK) Ltd, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Essex, SS16 4UH
Received 26 Aug 2022Roding Valley High School, Alderton Hill, Loughton, IG103JA
Received 13 Sept 2016Magnox Electric Plc, Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell-on-sea, Southminster, CM0 7HP
Received 9 Jun 2020Bardfield County Junior & Infant School,Clay Hill Road,Vange,Basildon
Received 7 Dec 2004Arable Farm Land located adjacent to the A1245 and A130 intersection.,Land adjacent A1245 and A139,Basildon
Received 11 Oct 2010The Edith Borthwick School, Fennes Road, Church Street, Bocking, Braintree, CM7 5LA
Received 20 Feb 2012Records 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