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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land south of Cut Hedge Lane
Received 16 Mar 2017Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 10 Nov 2006Shenfield and Hutton Water Recycling Centre, off Old Church Lane, Shenfield, Brentwood, Essex
Received 16 Oct 2015Bulls Lodge & Park Farm, Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 7 Dec 1992Mill Lane, High Ongar, CM5 9RG
Received 11 Feb 2014Woodlands School,Takeley End,Kingswood,Basildon,SS165BA
Received 31 Jan 2012Essex County Council Waste Transfer Station, Chelmsford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1LW
Received 1 Feb 2019Bocking Church Street PS,Edith Borthwick School,Fennes Rd,Bocking,Braintree,CM7 5LA
Received 22 Jul 2004Writtle Wick Family Centre,62 Chignal Road,Chelmsford,CM1 2JB
Received 24 Feb 2004The Ramsey School - Upper,Hawthorn Close,Halstead,CO9 2HR
Received 16 Mar 1998Bellhouse Quarry and Landfill Site, Warren Lane, STANWAY, CO3 0NN
Received 13 Oct 2017Billericay Library & Register Office,Burstead Lodge,High Street,Billericay,CM12 9AB
Received 24 Jan 2008Kents Hill County Junior & Infants Schools,Kents Hill Road,South Benfleet,Benfleet,SS7 5PS
Received 16 Aug 2000Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 4 Oct 1994Frobisher Primary & Nursery School,Frobisher Drive,Jaywick,Clacton on Sea,CO15 2QH
Received 25 Apr 2001Hanson Aggregates, Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 10 Jun 2013Market Field School, School Road, Elmstead, Colchester, CO7 7ET
Received 30 Dec 2014Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, CO7 7RU.
Received 20 Mar 2018East of Grapnells Farm, on Wallasea Island, Near Rochford, Wallasea Island, SS4 2HD
Received 3 Sept 2015Staples Road Primary School, Staples Road, Loughton, Essex, IG10 1HR
Received 3 Jun 2014Morses Lane Industrial Estate,Brightlingsea,CO7 0SD
Received 9 Jul 2001Caretakers House, 32 Takely End, Basildon, Essex SS16 5AZ
Received 20 May 2022Ongar Landfill, Mill Lane, High Ongar, CM5 9RG
Received 17 Nov 2020Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 24 Apr 2014Records 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