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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Maldon Youth Centre,Maldon Youth Centre, Carmelite Way,Maldon,CM9 5GF
Received 21 Mar 2005Former Kores Nordic Site,West Road,Harlow,CM20 2AL
Received 28 Jul 2011Harlowbury School, Caretakers House, Watlington Road, Harlow Essex CM17 0DX
Received 30 Jun 2023Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HR
Received 28 Jan 2025Manor Farm
Received 29 Mar 2006Land At Archers Fields, Pitsea, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1DH
Received 27 May 2026Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon. CM9 8BQ
Received 13 Sept 2012Waterman Primary School,The Boulevard,Rochford,SS4 1QF
Received 20 Mar 2007St Michaels Primary School & Nursery,Camulodunum Way,Colchester,CO2 9RA
Received 28 Jul 2006Holt Farm County Junior School,Ashingdon Rd,Rochford,SS4 1RS
Received 6 Apr 2001The Maples, 3 Hodings Road, Harlow, Essex, CM20 1AT
Received 11 Aug 2022Nazeing Primary School, Hyde Mead, Nazeing EN9 2HS
Received 26 Aug 2021Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, WIVENHOE, CO7 9JU
Received 8 Dec 2017Tiptree Basketworks & Woodyard,Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 5 Aug 2002Sandon,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received Not publishedAsheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 31 Mar 2015Nazeing County Primary School,Hyde Mead,Nazeing,Waltham Abbey,EN9 2HS
Received 15 Jun 2007Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree CO5 9DF
Received 26 Jun 2023Debden C of E Primary School,High Street,Debden,Saffron Walden,CB11 3LE
Received 28 Nov 2008Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 10 Jul 2015Magnox Electric Plc, Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell-on-sea, Southminster, CM0 7HP
Received 2 Dec 2016Land to the north A12, Trunk road at Cuckoo Farm (Park & Ride),Cuckoo Farm,Boxted Road,Mile End,Colchester,CO4 5HH
Received 8 Jan 2010Sandon Quarry,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 22 Jul 1998Land at Beazley End Pit - Wethersfield - near Braintree -,Beazley End Pit,Beazley End,Wethersfield,Braintree
Received 20 Jan 1997Records 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