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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 1 Sept 2006Land to the rear of the Ambulance Station, Off Chelmsford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 11 Nov 2011Lee Chapel County Primary School,The Knares,Basildon,SS16 5RU
Received 28 Apr 2005Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 18 Jan 2019Highwoods C P S,Tyndale Square,Highwoods,Colchester,CO4 9SN
Received 13 Feb 2009Short Bridge,Bridge Street,Coggeshall,Colchester
Received 15 Apr 2010Land at: Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 15 Jan 2026Glenwood School,Rushbottom Lane,New Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 4LW
Received 12 Mar 2010Mildmay Infant and Nursery School, Robin Way, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 8AU
Received 27 Jan 2014Wallasea Island, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 19 Nov 2013Land adjacent to Rickstones Road, Rivenhall, CM8 2SD
Received 7 May 2021The Colne Community School, Church Road, Brightlingsea, CO7 0QL
Received 19 Mar 2021Laindon Park Primary School, Church Hill, Basildon, Laindon, Essex, SS15 5SE
Received 6 Jun 2014Brickfields Way,Purdeys Industrial Estate,Purdeys Way,Rochford
Received 19 May 2004Park Farm, Belsteads Farm Lane, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3PX
Received 15 Jun 2023Colchester Quarry,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 17 Sept 2013Land south of A1060 (Salt’s Green), Chalk End, Roxwell, Chelmsford, CM1 4NJ
Received 24 Jan 2025Felmore Primary School,Davenants,Pitsea,Basildon,SS131QZ
Received 20 Feb 1998Former St Nicholas CofE Primary School,Church Road,Rawreth,Wickford,SS118SH
Received 3 May 2000The Heybridge Centre, The Street, Heybridge. CM9 7NB,,The Heybridge Centre,The Street,Heybridge,Maldon,CM9 4NB
Received 17 Apr 2003Land South of Limebrook Way and East of Maldon Wick, Maldon, Essex
Received 22 May 2023St George's Infants School,Barrington Rd,Colchester,CO2 7RW
Received 12 Aug 2002Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, Essex, CO5 9DF
Received 4 Aug 2015Gosbecks C P School,Owen Ward Close,Shrub End,Colchester,CO2 9DG
Received 12 Aug 2008Records 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.

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