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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Broomfield Farm,Broomfields Farm,Lea Lane,Great Braxted,Witham,CM8 3ER
Received 24 Jan 1995Kingsmoor Academy, Ployters Road, Harlow, CM18 7PS
Received 19 Oct 2017Danbury County Youth Camp,Well Lane,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AB
Received 10 Sept 2010Former Beis Shammai/Debden Park High School,St Johns CE Primary School,High Road,Buckhurst Hill,IG9 5RX
Received 1 May 2002Yard 1, Charfleets Road, Canvey Island, SS8 0PQ
Received 18 May 2018Css South Quadrant, Fairview Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 1PW
Received 7 Oct 2022Land adjacent to Brook End Road,Chelmsford
Received 10 Sept 2003Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 18 Nov 2022Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 24 Aug 2016Brightside County Junior And Infant School, Brightside, Billericay, Essex, CM12 0LE
Received 31 Oct 2023PANNERS UNDERBRIDGE, GREAT NOTLEY,Stansted to Braintree A120,Braintree
Received 1 Nov 2001Halstead Anaerobic Digestion Facility, Land north of Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, Essex
Received 29 Aug 2018Dunton Fields Early Years Centre, Land off Warwick Crescent, Laindon, Basildon SS15 6LW
Received 13 Jan 2021Land to the east of Brickfields Way, Brickfields Way, Rochford, SS4 1NB
Received 24 Mar 2015Land At Archers Fields, Pitsea, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1DH
Received 21 Nov 2022Alec Hunter School,Stubbs Lane,Braintree,CM7 3NR
Received 24 Oct 2003Chignal Hall Farm,Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 10 Nov 2005Millhouse Junior, Infant and Nursery School,Tavistock Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS155QF
Received 23 Oct 1996Ivy Chimneys C P School,Ivy Chimneys Road,Epping,CM16 4EP
Received 29 Feb 2012Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, Braintree, CM778DL
Received 13 Nov 2013Hamford C P School, Elm Tree Avenue, Walton On The Naze, CO14 8TE
Received 2 Mar 2020Level D, Fulton Road, Manor Trading Estate, Benfleet, SS7 4PZ
Received 5 Dec 2012Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 22 May 2024Bellhouse Farm,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 5 Jan 1994Records 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