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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land at Wallasea Island, Essex
Received 13 Apr 2012Birchanger Primary School, Birchwood, Birchanger CM23 5QL
Received 23 Jun 2023Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 11 May 2010Blackwater Aggregates, Bradwell Quarry, Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, BRADWELL, CM77 8EP
Received 21 Dec 2016Fairhouse Community Junior & Infant School, Long Riding, Basildon, SS141QP
Received 20 Feb 1998Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 23 Jul 2019Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 19 Nov 2025The Cornelius Vermuyden School,Dinant Avenue,Canvey,SS8 9SQ
Received 18 Jun 2010Beaulieu Park Education Campus site, Beaulieu, Chelmsford
Received 7 Dec 2017Land North of Dry Street, Nethermayne, Basildon, Essex
Received 30 Apr 2024Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 9 Apr 2024Boreham Primary School,Juniper Road,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3DB
Received 27 Apr 2009St Mary's School,Reeve Road,Foresthall Park,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM24 8SJ
Received 19 Jan 2011Langford Hall RESERVOIR,Langford Hall Estate,Witham Road,Langford,Maldon,CM9 4ST
Received 3 Sept 1990Chase Farm,Vicarage Lane West,North Weald,Epping,CM16 6AL
Received 10 Oct 2008Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, WIVENHOE, CO7 9JU
Received 8 Dec 2017Land off Moulsham Hall Lane Great Leighs, South of Moulsham Hall Lane,Between Strawbrook Hill and Great Notley Garden Village
Received 26 Oct 2001Green Recycling Ltd, Quayside Industrial Estate, Bates Road, Maldon, CM9 5FA
Received 22 Dec 2011Previously Woodlands School,Columbus School and College,Patching Hall Lane,Chelmsford,CM1 4BX
Received 6 Jan 2011The Ursuline High School, Queens Road, Brentwood, CM14 4EX
Received 4 Jun 2021The Colne Community School,Church Road,Brightlingsea,CO7 0QL
Received 11 Oct 2000Land at Andrewes Way Wolsey Park Rayleigh
Received 14 Aug 2026Agregate Industries, Martells Industrial Estate, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Colchester, CO7 7RU
Received 12 Dec 2012Shrubland Court Day Centre, 43 Shrub End Road, Colchester, Essex, CO3 3UE
Received 29 Aug 2024Records 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