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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Elsenham Quarry, Hall Road, Elsenham, Essex, CM22 6DJ
Received 28 Oct 2014Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 28 Feb 2018Land at Housham Hall Farm, Matching Tye, Harlow
Received 10 Mar 2020Thorrington WwTW,Brightlingsea
Received 2 Apr 2002Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill, Mucking Hall Road, Barling Magna
Received 24 Aug 2016Braintree Register Office,John Ray House,Bocking End,Braintree
Received 19 Jun 2002Essex County Council Waste Transfer Station, Chelmsford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1LW
Received 11 Oct 2024Bishop William Ward School, 22, Coach Road, Great Horkesley, Colchester, CO6 4AT
Received 15 Feb 2013Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, Essex, CO7 9JU
Received 21 Nov 2017The James Hornby High School, Leinster Road, Laindon, Basildon, SS155NX
Received 5 Dec 2011Land to the south of Terminus Drive, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, SS16 4UH
Received 24 Oct 2017Harlow Fields School, Tendring Road, Harlow, Essex, CM18 6RN
Received 16 May 2025Newhall Primary School, The Chase, Harlow, Newhall, CM17 9JA
Received 12 Sept 2017Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 17 Mar 2025Units 7 & 9 Haslemere Estate,Lovet Road,Harlow
Received 10 May 2002Wivenhoe Quarry Alresford Road Wivenhoe Essex CO7 9JU
Received 8 Jan 2026Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, BRADWELL, CM77 8EP
Received 15 Apr 2019Kings Ford County Infant & Junior School,Gloucester Ave,Colchester,CO2 9AZ
Received 17 Jun 2005Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 8 May 2019Pitsea Power Station, Pitsea Landfill, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 1 Aug 2017A127/A130 Fairglen Interchange
Received 11 Jun 2020Highwoods Quarry, Stortford Road, Dunmow CM6 1SL
Received 13 Apr 2020Home Farm County Primary School, Shelley Road, Colchester. CO3 4JL
Received 4 Oct 2017St. Peters C Of E Primary School, Myneer Park, Coggeshall, Colchester, CO6 1YU
Received 15 Jan 2014Records 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.

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Read planning drawings, floor plans, elevations and sections. Use labelled diagrams, a drawing comparison table and revision checks to understand a proposal.

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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