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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Chelmsford STW, Brook End Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 6NU
Received 27 Mar 2013Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received Not publishedRivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 6 Oct 2023Royal Oak Quarry, Chelmsford Road, Woodham Mortimer, CM9 6TJ
Received 10 Mar 2015Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Howe Green, Essex, CM2 7TE
Received 9 Feb 2015Vacant Land, Circular Road East, Colchester
Received 27 Aug 2013Land at Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex
Received 1 May 2014Castledon School, Bromfords Drive, Wickford SS12 0PW
Received Not publishedLand part of Boyton Hall Farm,Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 13 Nov 1996Two Village Primary School,Mayes Lane,Ramsey,Harwich,CO12 5HP
Received 21 May 2004Chase Lane Primary School,Chase Lane,Dovercourt,Harwich,CO12 4NB
Received 24 Jul 2006Barling Landfill,Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 16 Dec 2002Frinton County Primary School,Witton Wood Road,Frinton-on-Sea,CO13 9LA
Received 15 May 2001Land between South Wooden Ferrers and North Fambridge
Received 20 Apr 2020James Hornsby High School,Leinster Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS155NX
Received 26 Mar 1998Clacton County High School, Walton Road, Clacton On Sea, CO15 6DZ
Received 16 Mar 2021Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 17 Nov 1998Richard De Clare County Primary School, Parsonage Street, Halstead, CO9 2JT
Received 16 Jan 2015St Andrew’s CofE Primary School, Mandeville Road, Marks Tey, Colchester, Essex, CO6 1HL
Received 14 Jul 2017Land at Colchester Quarry (Bellhouse), Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 8 Apr 2021Childerditch Highways Depot, Hall Drive, Childerditch Industrial Park, Childerditch, Brentwood, Essex, CM13 3HD
Received 13 Jun 2013Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne.
Received 21 May 2025Shorefields School, 114, Holland Road, Clacton-on-sea, CO156HF
Received 2 Jul 2012Home Farm County Primary School, Shelley Road, Colchester, CO3 4JL
Received 31 Aug 2018Records 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