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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Pond at Sweyne Park, Rayleigh, Essex.
Received 7 Oct 2016Holy Trinity C of E Primary School,Beridge Road,Halstead
Received 6 Jan 2003Maldon Youth Centre, Carmelite Way,Maldon,CM9 5GF
Received 30 Jun 2005Maple River Industrial Estate,Unit 7,Maple River Industrial Estate,River Way,Harlow,Essex,CM20 2DP
Received 6 Dec 2012Ugley Landfill Site, Cambridge Road, Ugley, Essex, CM22 6HT
Received 6 Apr 2024Millhouse Junior, Infant and Nursery School, Tavistock Road, Laindon, Basildon SS155QF
Received Not publishedBoro Farm, Newmarket Road, Great Chesterford, Essex, CB10 1NU
Received 1 Dec 2022Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 7 Nov 2005Cherry Tree Primary School,Holt Drive,Colchester,CO2 0BG
Received 17 Jul 2001The Colne Community School, Church Road, Brightlingsea CO7 0QL
Received 7 Jul 2021Land adjacent to Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Saffron Walden, CB11 3SL
Received 9 Jun 2014Birchanger Primary School, Birchwood, Birchanger, CM23 5QL
Received 21 Jun 2021Wilson Marriage Centre, Barrack Street, Colchester, Essex, CO1 2LR
Received 13 Mar 2014Vacant Land, Circular Road East, Colchester
Received 17 Jun 2013Newhall Primary School, The Chase, Newhall, Harlow. CM17 9JA
Received 15 Dec 2017Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 26 Mar 2012Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 18 Dec 2012Home Farm, Hall Road, Gaunts End, Elsenham, Essex, CM22 6DR
Received 5 Jan 2026The Hereward County Primary School, Colebrook Lane, Loughton, IG102HR
Received 28 Mar 2013West Horndon County Primary School, Thorndon Avenue, West Horndon, Essex, CM13 3TR
Received 23 Nov 2022Ugley Landfill Site,Cambridge Road,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM22 6HT
Received 4 Jan 2005Wilson Marriage Centre.,Barrack Street,Colchester,CO1 2LR
Received 25 Sept 2007Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 14 Dec 2021Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received Not publishedRecords 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