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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Whitmore County Infant School,Whitmore Way,Basildon,SS14 2TP
Received 30 Sept 2003Car Breakers Yard,Russell Road,North Fambridge,Chelmsford,CM3 6NH
Received 21 Jun 2011Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 7 Apr 2004Sir Charles Lucas School,Hawthorn Avenue,Greenstead Estate,Colchester,CO4 3JL
Received 11 Jul 2005Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HR
Received 21 Jul 2025Ryedene CPS,Clover Way,Vange,Basildon,SS164SY
Received 30 Oct 2008Alderton Infant and Junior School, Alderton Hall Lane, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3HE
Received 2 Jul 2014Leigh Beck County Junior and Infant Schools & Nursery,Point Road,Canvey,SS8 7TD
Received 18 Nov 1997Royal Oak Quarry, Woodham Mortimer, Danbury, Essex, CM3 4RJ
Received 2 May 2014Land at Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 20 Sept 2017The King Edmund School,Vaughan Close,Rochford
Received 22 Nov 2004Bradwell Pit,Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 7 Nov 1995Royal Oak Quarry,Chelmsford Rd,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM9 6TJ
Received 21 May 2002Robert Drake Primary School,Church Road,New Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 3HT
Received 9 Jan 2008Chipping Hill Primary School, Owers Road, Witham, CM8 1FR
Received 4 Nov 2015Mackers Metals, Wrexham Road, Laindon, Essex, SS15 6PX
Received 24 Jan 2014Land at Plumptons Farm,Plumptons Farm,Ford Lane,Alresford,Colchester,CO7 8BB
Received 30 Jun 1997Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, BRADWELL, CM77 8EP
Received 3 Apr 2019Barling Marsh Quarry & Landfill, Mucking Hall Road, Barling Magna, SS3 0NR
Received 25 Oct 2018Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 16 Jul 2026Mackers Metals, Wrexham Road, Basildon, SS156PX
Received 20 Sept 2012Ashlyns Composting Site, Epping Road, Ongar, Essex
Received 19 Apr 2012Land at Colemans Farm, Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 2 Sept 2016Oak View School, Whitehills Road, Loughton, IG10 1TS
Received 15 Oct 2018Records 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
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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