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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Broadfields Primary School, Freshwaters, School Lane, Harlow, CM20 3QA
Received 19 Jun 2013St Mary's C of E County Primary School,Docwra Road,Kelvedon,Colchester,CO5 9DS
Received 9 Jul 2003Land at Greenacres, Packards Lane, Wormingford
Received 5 Sept 2020Fen Farm,Fen Chase,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7HA
Received 24 Mar 2010Land at Colemans Farm, Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 22 Jun 2016St John's Green Primary School,St John's Green,Colchester,CO2 7HE
Received 4 Aug 2011East Essex Adult Community College, The Friary, Carmelite Way, Maldon, Essex, CM9 5FJ
Received 4 Sept 2014Gosfield County Primary School,The Street,Gosfield,Halstead,CO9 1ST
Received 18 Mar 1996Danbury Park County Primary School,Well Lane,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AB
Received 14 Mar 2007Land at Wallasea Island, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 1 May 2015Gosbecks C P School,Owen Ward Close,Shrub End,Colchester,CO2 9DG
Received 25 Oct 2001Moulsham High, Junior & Infant School,Brian Close,Chelmsford,CM2 9ES
Received 17 Dec 2008Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 6 May 2021Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 25 Sept 2020Fawbert & Barnards (undl) Primary School, London Road, Harlow, CM170DA
Received 24 Nov 2011St Pauls Field, Nazeing,Sedge Green,Meadgate Road,Nazeing,Waltham Abbey,EN9 2PB
Received 16 Oct 2000Barnes Farm Infant & Junior Schools,Henniker Gate,Chelmer Village,Chelmsford,CM2 6QH
Received 13 Oct 2010Heatherland Composting,Stondon Hall Farm,Stondon Massey,Ongar,CM15 0LD
Received 19 Nov 2008Briscoe County Junior & Infant School, Felmores End, Pitsea, Basildon
Received 27 May 1997Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 29 Aug 2024Westlands Community Primary School,Beeches Close,Chelmsford,CM1 2SB
Received 11 Jan 2006Plant Site,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 7 Feb 2011Leverton Infant School, Honey Lane, Waltham Abbey,Leverton C J S,Honey Lane,Waltham Abbey,EN9 3BE
Received 5 May 2000Shenfield Library, Hutton Road, Shenfield, CM15 8NJ
Received 23 Apr 2024Records 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