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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land at: Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 20 Mar 2026Elsenham C Of E School, High Street, Elsenham, Bishop's Stortford, CM226DD
Received 3 Jun 2014Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 4 Jul 2023Millhouse Junior, Infant and Nursery School,Tavistock Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS155QF
Received 18 Nov 2002Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 19 Jul 2024Elmstead Hall, Tye Road, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 24 Jun 2026Highwood Quarry, B Lodge, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Nr Great Dunmow, CM6 1SL
Received 15 Nov 2016Land to the west of, & adjacent to, Cambridge Road, just to south of the River Stort and Old Road, Cambridge Road, Harlow, CM20 2EU
Received 28 Apr 2017Hogarth Primary School, Riseway, Brentwood, CM15 8BG
Received 12 Oct 2018Ugley Landfill Site,Cambridge Road,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM22 6HT
Received 24 Aug 2001Gosfield County Primary School,The Street,Gosfield,Halstead,CO9 1ST
Received 3 Jan 1996Copford CE (V/C) Primary School, School Road, Copford, CO6 1BX
Received 14 Jul 2021Land off Remembrance Avenue, Beaulieu, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 25 Mar 2024Stanway Pit, Warren Lane, Stanway, CO3 5NN
Received 20 Jan 2012Milldene County Primary School, 65 Barbrook Lane, Tiptree, Essex, CO5 0EF
Received 22 Sept 2025Debden School Buildings,Debden C of E Primary School,High Street,Debden,Saffron Walden,CB11 3LE
Received 24 Jun 2004Veermans Lodge,Veermans Lodge,Thaxted Road,Saffron Walden,CB10 2UR
Received 6 Feb 2006Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Rayne, Braintree, Essex, CM77 6SB
Received 29 Aug 2024Lodge Farm,Lodge Farm Lane,St Osyth,Clacton-0n-Sea,CO16 8SA
Received 29 Mar 2007Colne Barrier Borrow Pit,Fingringhoe Quarry,Ballast Quay,Fingringhoe,Colchester
Received 17 Jan 1996The William de Ferrers School,Trinity Square,South Woodham Ferrers,Chelmsford,CM3 5JU
Received 24 May 2004Alton Park Junior School, Leas Road, Clacton-on-sea, CO151DL
Received 22 Nov 2012Magnum House,Swinborne Road,Basildon,SS13 1AX
Received 18 Dec 2003Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 2 Aug 2012Records 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