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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Hovefield Avenue, Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1EB
Received 13 Jun 2014Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, C03 0NN
Received 18 Mar 2020The Sweyne Park School, Sir Walter Raleigh Drive, Rayleigh SS6 9BZ
Received 29 Jul 2021St Peters Cof E Primary School,Carters Hill,Boxted, Colchester,CO4 5YN
Received 10 Feb 2012Powers Hall Academy, Spa Road, Witham, Essex, CM8 1NA
Received 21 Jul 2014Harlow Environmental & Outdoor Education Centre,Burnt Mill Lane,Harlow,CM20 2QS
Received 21 Jan 2004Church Langley Primary School,Church Langley Way,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9TH
Received 16 Jul 2009Wickford C of E Infants School,Mount Road,Wickford,SS118HE
Received 2 Sept 2008Great Berry Primary School,Forest Glade,Langdon Hills,Basildon,SS166SG
Received 18 Oct 1994Stanley Wilson Lodge,Four Acres,Saffron Walden,CB11 3JD
Received 29 Sept 2000Birch Airfield, Blind Lane, Birch, Essex, CO5 9XE
Received 21 Mar 2025Columbus School and College,Patching Hall Lane,Chelmsford,CM1 4BX
Received 21 May 2004Two Village Primary School,Mayes Lane,Ramsey,Harwich,CO12 5HP
Received 6 Feb 2007Millhouse Junior, Infant and Nursery School, Tavistock Road, Laindon, Basildon SS155QF
Received Not publishedDanbury Outdoors, Well Lane, Danbury, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 4AB
Received 15 Feb 2024Abbotsweld, Partridge Road, Toddbrook, Harlow, Essex, CM18 6TE
Received 11 Mar 2014Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 7 Sept 2012Highwood Quarry, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 11 Nov 2019Wickford Junior School,Market Road,Wickford,SS12 0AG
Received 13 Jan 2009Myland County Primary School,Mill Road,Mile End,Colchester,CO4 5LD
Received 21 Dec 2001Hastingwood Depot, London Road, North Weald, Harlow, CM17 9LH
Received 24 Mar 2016Land 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 13 Nov 2024Harlowbury Primary School site, Gilden Way, Harlow
Received 21 Feb 2022Coopers Beach Hoilday Park,Church Lane,East Mersea,Colchester,CO5 8TN
Received 12 Aug 2011Records 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