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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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
Received 10 Apr 2026Land At Archers Fields, Pitsea, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1DH
Received 27 May 2026Montgomerie Junior School, Rushbottom Lane, Benfleet, SS7 4LW
Received 22 Dec 2014Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 12 Oct 2012Notley High School,Notley Road,Braintree,CM7 1HL
Received 28 Nov 1997Monkwick Junior School, School Road, COLCHESTER, CO2 8NN
Received 16 Jun 2017Laindon Park C P S,Church Hill,Laindon,Basildon,SS155SE
Received 18 Sept 2009Janet Duke Primary School,Markhams Chase,Laindon,Basildon,SS155LS
Received 25 Jan 2005Land at Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex
Received 18 Jan 2012Waltham Holy Cross Infants School, Quendon Drive, Monkswood Ave, Waltham,Waltham Holy Cross Junior School,Quendon Drive,Monkswood Avenue,Waltham Abbey,EN9 1LG
Received 29 Aug 2003Broomfield Place,189 Main Road,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM1 7EQ
Received 3 Mar 2006St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 19 Nov 2007Columbus School and College,Patching Hall Lane,Chelmsford,CM1 4BX
Received 8 Feb 2010Harlowbury County Primary School,Watlington Road,Old Harlow,Harlow
Received 25 Nov 2005Langford Bridge,A128 Ongar to Brentwood Road,Brentwood,CM15 0LB
Received 28 Mar 2008Fordham All Saints Primary School, Mill Road, Fordham CO6 3NN
Received 9 Apr 2020Belsteads Farm,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 15 Jul 1985Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge Roundabout on A131, Great & Little Leighs Parish, to the north east of Chelmsford.
Received 17 Jun 2022Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 14 Sept 2020Wallasea Island,Rochford,SS4 2HD
Received 11 Jul 2012M11 between Junction 7 and 8 with link road to Gilden Way
Received 1 Apr 2016Harlowbury Primary School Site, Gilden Way, Harlow
Received 21 Jul 2025Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Chelmsford, CM2 7TE
Received 23 Jan 2015Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, Braintree, CM778DL
Received 24 Sept 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.

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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