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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
The King John School, Shipwrights Drive, Benfleet, SS7 1RQ
Received 27 Aug 2014Moulsham Infant and Junior Schools, Princes Road, Chelmsford, CM2 9DG
Received 19 May 2015Paxman Academy, Paxman Avenue, Colchester CO2 9DQ.
Received 17 Dec 2019Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 24 Mar 2025Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, Essex, CM3 3LU
Received 11 Aug 2017Laindon Park C P S,Church Hill,Laindon,Basildon,SS155SE
Received 6 Jan 2005The Hedley Walter College of Technology,Youth Centre,Sawyers Hall Lane,Brentwood,CM15 9DA
Received 27 May 2008Monkwick Junior School, School Road, Colchester, CO2 8NN
Received 8 Mar 2019Unit B, 39, Robjohns Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 3AG
Received 13 Mar 2015Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land east of Sheepcotes Lane
Received 25 Jul 2019Rylands Cottage,Blois Road,Steeple Bumpstead,Haverhill,CB9 7BW
Received 10 Oct 1993Columbus School and College,Patching Hall Lane,Chelmsford,CM1 4BX
Received 11 Sept 1996Honywood School,Westfield Drive,Coggeshall,Colchester,CO6 1PZ
Received 8 Feb 2005Roydon C P School,Harlow Road,Harlow,CM19 5HN
Received 21 Jan 2011Hall Road,Gt.Totham Hall,Great Totham,Maldon,CM9 8NN
Received 14 Aug 1998Green Recycling Ltd, Quayside Industrial Estate, Bates Road, Maldon, CM9 5FA
Received 5 Sept 2012Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 15 May 2025Chelmsford County High School for Girls,Broomfield Road,Chelmsford,CM1 1RW
Received 27 May 2008St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 13 Jul 2004Former Edith Borthwick School, Church Street, Bocking, Braintree CM7 5LA
Received 12 Jan 2021Marsh Farm, Vange By-pass, Basildon, Essex, SS16 4QG
Received 16 May 2017Boro Farm, Newmarket Road, Great Chesterford, Saffron Walden, CB10 1FN
Received 28 Feb 2022Former Commonside School, Commonside Road, Harlow cm18 7ez,Harlow Integrated Support Centre (Former Commonside Special School),Commonside Road,Harlow,CM18 7EZ
Received 23 Oct 2001Lyons Hall School,Deerleap Way,Braintree,CM7 9DH
Received 5 Jul 2001Records 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