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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
St Albans RC Primary School, First Avenue, Harlow, CM20 2NP
Received 31 Jul 2020Ramsden Hall School,Ramsden Heath,Billericay,CM11 1HN
Received 21 May 2007Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, Colchester, Essex, CO7 9JU
Received 15 Jun 2012A13/A130 Sadlers Farm Junction,London Road,Basildon
Received 11 Jul 2007Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 7TE
Received 31 Mar 2015Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, Braintree, CM778DL
Received 13 Nov 2013Harlow Integrated Support Centre (Former Commonside Special School),Commonside Road,Harlow,CM18 7EZ
Received 15 Feb 2011Infants School,Stortford Road,Dunmow,CM6 1DW
Received 10 Jan 2003Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Dec 2020Unit 3, Childerditch Hall Drive, Little Warley, Brentwood, CM13 3HD
Received 27 Jan 2012Codham Hall Farm, Codham Hall Lane, Great Warley, Brentwood, Essex
Received 14 May 2012Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Chelmsford, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 19 Jan 2024Land at Andrewes Way, Wolsey Park, Rayleigh
Received 3 Nov 2025Newport Free Grammar School,Burywater Lane,Saffron Walden,CB11 3TR
Received 28 Jul 2005Oak View School, Whitehills Road, Loughton IG10 1TS
Received 21 Aug 2018Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HR
Received 24 Apr 2025Drakes Farm Reservoir,Russell Green Reservoir,Drakes Farm,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3BD
Received 7 Jun 1999Highwoods Quarry, Stortford Road, Dunmow CM6 1SL
Received 13 Apr 2022Barling Landfill Site, Mucking Hall Road, BARLING MAGNA, SS3 0NR
Received 5 Oct 2017Copford Primary School, School Road, Copford, Essex, CO6 1BX
Received 11 Mar 2016Hazel End Farm,Hazel End,Farnham
Received 7 Aug 2001Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 12 Oct 2012Northwick Park Primary School, Third Avenue, Canvey Island, Essex, SS8 9SU
Received 30 May 2017Martells Industrial Estate,Slough Lane,Ardleigh,Colchester,CO7 7RU
Received 30 Dec 2011Records 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