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.
6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 5 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 14 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 3 Feb 2025Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 10 Apr 1991Land adjacent to Cressing Road,Faulkbourne Farm,Witham
Received 13 Jan 2006Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 22 Jun 2011Broomfield Place,189 Main Road,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM1 7EQ
Received 19 Jun 2006Land adjacent to A120, A120 North, Ardleigh, Colchester, Essex, CO7 7SL
Received 13 May 2014Hillyfields Open Space adjacent to Pyrles Lane, Loughton
Received 8 Feb 2019The Cordons, Long Green, Cressing, Braintree, CM778DL
Received 20 Apr 2012Hastingwood Highways Depot, London Road, Hastingwood, Harlow, Essex, CM17 9LH
Received 29 Nov 2012Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 26 Nov 200745 Writtle Library, The Green, Writtle, Chelmsford, CM1 3DT
Received 5 Oct 2016Evegate & No 3, Thistley Green Road, Braintree, CM7 9SE
Received 11 Nov 2016Canvey Junior & Infants School,Hawkesbury Road,Canvey,SS8 0DG
Received 25 Jun 2002Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 6 Jul 2026Manor County Junior and Infant School,Church Road,Basildon,SS142EX
Received 13 Mar 1996Lincewood Primary School,Berry Lane,Langdon Hills,Basildon,SS166AZ
Received 10 Jul 2001Courtauld Road, Basildon
Received 27 Nov 2013Land to the rear of the Ambulance Station,Chelmsford Road,Dunmow,CM6 1LW
Received 21 Nov 2001Springfield Highways Depot, Colchester Road, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 5PU
Received 17 Jul 2013Cold Norton Primary School, St. Stephen's Road, Cold Norton, Essex, CM3 6JE
Received 13 Jul 2022Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 16 Sept 2024Plume Academy, Mill Road Campus, Mill Road, CM9 5DU
Received 11 Mar 2025Veolia ES (UK) Ltd, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Essex, SS16 4UH
Received 8 Oct 2024Wallasea Island,Rochford,SS4 2HD
Received 15 Mar 2012Records 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