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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 25 Jul 2019Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Dec 2020Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 8 Jan 2013West Wood (Ancient Woodland), East Thundersley, Essex
Received 6 Sept 2016Lee Chapel County Primary School,The Knares,Basildon,SS16 5RU
Received 29 Apr 2010Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 2 Jul 2007Felmoor Farm,Felsted
Received 10 Apr 2001Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 12 Oct 2005Lyons Hall School,Deerleap Way,Braintree,CM7 9DH
Received 11 Apr 2000Land at: Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 8 May 2022Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP
Received 16 Feb 2018Colchester Quarry,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 30 Nov 2011Danbury Outdoors, Well Lane, Danbury, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 4AB
Received 19 Apr 2024Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 23 Sept 2016Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, BRADWELL, CM77 8EP
Received 14 Apr 2023Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 19 May 2020Tile Kiln Farm, Sible Hedingham, Halstead, Essex, CO9 1UP
Received 23 Feb 2024Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 18 Jul 2023Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 7 Apr 2014Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 3 Nov 2021Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 27 Feb 2019Glebe Infant and Junior School,Creswick Avenue,Rayleigh,SS6 9HG
Received 25 May 2006Colchester Quarry (Bellhouse), Warren Lane, Colchester, Essex
Received 10 Nov 2016Northwick Park Primary School, Third Avenue, Canvey Island, Essex, SS8 9SU
Received 30 May 2017Records 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