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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 east of Sheepcotes Lane
Received 31 Oct 2019Pitsea Infant School,Pitsea Junior School,High Road,Pitsea,Basildon,SS133AB
Received 30 Nov 2000Spring Meadow County Primary School,Pound Farm Drive,Dovercourt,Harwich,CO12 4LB
Received 17 May 2006The Henry Moore Primary School,Kiln Lane,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9LW
Received 11 Jul 2003Mersea Centre for Outdoor Learning, Rewsalls Lane, East Mersea, Essex CO5 8SY
Received 24 Oct 2016Stanway Primary School, Villa Road, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0RH
Received 9 Jun 2016Gosbecks C P School,Owen Ward Close,Shrub End,Colchester,CO2 9DG
Received 27 Oct 1998Hollow Road,Widdington,Saffron Walden,CB113SL
Received 20 May 2003Chelmer Valley High School,Court Road,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM1 7ER
Received 16 Jun 2010Nazeing Quarry,Green Lane,Nazeing,Waltham Abbey,EN10 6TD
Received 4 Apr 1972Ugley Landfill Site,Cambridge Road,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM22 6HT
Received 7 Jun 2004Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 10 Jul 2006Land to the east of Bradfields Farm, Burnt Mills Road, Basildon
Received 22 Feb 2018Colchester County High School for Girls,Norman Way,Colchester,CO3 3US
Received 18 Feb 2002Dr Walker CofE Primary School, Ongar, CM5 0RG
Received 28 Jun 2016Land at Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 3 Feb 2020Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received Not publishedCedar Hall School, Hart Road, Thundersley, Benfleet, Essex SS7 3UQ
Received 9 Sept 2022Powers Hall Junior School,Spa Road,Witham,CM8 1NA
Received 27 Mar 2007North Weald Library, High Road, North Weald Bassett, Epping, CM16 6BZ
Received 24 Apr 2019Old Hall and Generals Farms,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM2 6GF
Received 9 Jul 2009Northwick Park Primary School, Third Avenue, Canvey Island, Essex, SS8 9SU
Received 30 May 2017Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Essex, CB11 3SL
Received 5 Jul 2023Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, Essex, CM77 8EP
Received 14 Aug 2023Records 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