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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Martins Farm,Martins & Wellwick Fms,St Osyth,Clacton-on-Sea,CO16 8HN
Received 11 Jun 1994Helena Romanes School Parsonage Downs Great Dunmow CM6 2AU
Received 11 Jun 2021Land adjacent to A120, A120 North, Ardleigh, Colchester, Essex, CO7 7SL
Received 31 Oct 2013Whitmore Junior & Infant School, Whitmore Way, Basildon, SS142TP
Received 29 Feb 2016Chipping Hill Infant School,Church Street,Witham,CM8 2JL
Received 20 Aug 2002Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 7 Oct 2021Copford Primary School, School Road, Copford, Essex, CO6 1BX
Received 28 Nov 2022Batemans Farm, Great Leighs, Chelmsford, CM3 1PU
Received 18 Apr 2013Brightside County Junior And Infant School, Brightside, Billericay, CM12 0LE
Received 24 May 2019Cherry Tree Primary School,Cherry Tree Primary School,Church Road,Basildon,SS164AG
Received 10 Jul 2001Shorefields School,Shorefields School,114 Holland Rd,Clacton on Sea,CO15 6HF
Received 7 Mar 2006Lexden Springs, Former Heath School, Winstree Road, Colchester CO3 0PZ
Received 17 May 2019Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 25 Jun 2021Mid Essex Gravel Pits Ltd, Essex Regiment Way, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, CM3 3PZ
Received 2 Apr 2013Bellhouse Landfill, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 15 Oct 2012Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 25 Apr 2023Mill Farm,Mill Farm,Wendens Ambo,Saffron Walden
Received 21 Dec 1993Upshire Primary Foundation School,Upshire Road,Upshire,Waltham Abbey,EN9 3PX
Received 24 Mar 2005The Scrap Yard,Dusty Lane,Tye Green,Braintree,CM77 8HB
Received 5 Dec 2007Wimbish County Primary School,Maple Lane,Tye Green,Wimbish,Saffron Walden,CB10 2XE
Received 13 May 2005Harlow Waste Transfer Station, West Road, Harlow, CM20 2AL
Received 10 May 2018Roxwell Quarry,Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 28 Feb 2006Land at Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex
Received 1 May 2014Stebbing Primary School, The Downs, Stebbing, Dunmow, CM6 3RA
Received 11 Mar 2016Records 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