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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Weald Park Visitors Centre, Weald Country Park, Weald Road, South Weald Essex, CM14 5QS
Received 6 Oct 2023De Vere Primary School, Kirby Hall Road, Castle Hedingham, Halstead, CO9 3EA
Received 28 Nov 2016Mildmay Infant and Nursery School,Robin Way,Chelmsford,CM2 8AU
Received 8 Jul 2009Holland Park Primary School,Holland Road,Holland on Sea,Clacton on Sea,CO15 6NG
Received 22 Jun 2001Essex MBT Facility, Courtauld Road, Basildon, SS13 1FL
Received 18 Jan 2019Tabor High School,Panfield Lane,Braintree,CM7 2TW
Received 16 Nov 1998All Saints Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School,Main Rd,Dovercourt,Harwich,CO12 4HT
Received 10 Feb 2009St Peter's Church Of England Primary School, Myneer Park, Coggeshall, Essex, CO6 1YU
Received 14 Sept 2026The Henry Moore Primary School,Kiln Lane,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9LW
Received 9 Nov 2006Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 4 Apr 2013Highwoods Quarry, Stortford Road, Dunmow CM6 1SL
Received 13 Apr 2020See ESS/11/00/col,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 23 Sept 2015Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 4 Nov 2019Doe Metal Recycling,Part of Pafkin Site,Valleybridge Road,Clacton-on-Sea
Received 1 Sept 2008Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 28 Jan 2022Chigwell Primary School,Chigwell Primary School,50 High Road,Chigwell,IG7 6DW
Received 12 Sept 2005Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 10 Jul 2015Rettendon Primary School, Main Road, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 8DW
Received 27 Jan 2023Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 2 Aug 2012Land North of Apprentice Drive, New Braiswick Park, Colchester, Essex
Received 16 Feb 2015Harlowbury School, Watlington Road, Harlow, CM170DX
Received 12 Jan 2015Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 12 Mar 2026Land at Greenacres, Packards Lane, Wormingford
Received 9 Apr 2018Land at Wallasea Island, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 29 May 2015Records 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