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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Ambulance Station, Chelmsford Road, Dunmow, CM6 1LW
Received 12 Mar 2013Lodge Farm,Lodge Farm Lane,St Osyth,Clacton-0n-Sea,CO16 8SA
Received 27 Nov 2009Highwoods Youth Centre,Highwoods Approach,Colchester
Received 30 Apr 2009The Tyrrells School,Tavistock Road,Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6JN
Received 14 Jun 2002Lee Chapel County Primary School,The Knares,Basildon,SS16 5RU
Received 14 Sept 2006Wimbish Primary School,Wimbish County Primary School,Maple Lane,Tye Green,Wimbish,Saffron Walden,CB10 2XE
Received 22 Dec 2003Spring Meadow Primary School, Pound Farm Lane, Dovercourt, Harwich, CO12 4LB
Received 11 Jun 2014A13/A130 Sadlers Farm Junction,London Road,Basildon
Received 15 Jul 2008ECC Land adjacent to 114 , Thorndon Avenue, West Horndon, Brentwood,West Horndon Primary School,Thorndon Avenue,West Horndon,Brentwood,CM13 3TR
Received 26 Jan 2005Cold Norton Primary School,St Stephens Road,Cold Norton,Maldon,CM3 6JE
Received 8 Jan 2007Blind Lane,Birch Airfield,Blind Lane,Birch,Colchester,CO5 9HH
Received 19 Feb 2004Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 2 Aug 2022Brightlingsea Quarry, Moverons Lane, Brightlingsea, CO7 0SB
Received 26 Apr 2019Passmores School and Technology College,Tendring Road,Harlow,CM18 6RW
Received 3 Aug 2010Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 23 Sept 2014Danbury Library & Youth Centre,Maldon Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4NQ
Received 26 Sept 2003Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 26 Aug 2026Moulsham High, Junior & Infant School,Brian Close,Chelmsford,CM2 9ES
Received 27 Jun 2002West Essex Pupil Referral Unit, Mowbray Road, Harlow. CM20 2LS,Tany's Dell County Primary School,Mowbray Road,Harlow,CM20 2LS
Received 11 Jun 2002Saffron Walden Library,Market Place,Saffron Walden,CB10 1HR
Received 18 Sept 2007Margaret Woods Farm,Broads Green,Gt Waltham,Chelmsford,CM3 1DZ
Received 22 Jun 1999Southminster Quarry, Goldsands Road, Southminster, Essex, CM0 7JR
Received 12 Sept 2013Heathlands Primary School, New Church Road, West Bergholt, Colchester, CO6 3JF
Received 9 Mar 2012Sladburys Farm, Sladburys Lane, Clacton-on-sea, CO154SS
Received 14 Jun 2013Records 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