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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 Courtauld Road, basildon, Essex
Received 16 Apr 2014Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 26 Jul 2023Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 11 Mar 2026School Buildings,Debden C of E Primary School,High Street,Debden,Saffron Walden,CB11 3LE
Received 18 Nov 2010Martells Industrial Estate, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Colchester, CO7 7RU
Received 16 Sept 2014Land North Of Generals Lane Roundabout, Generals Lane, Boreham. Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HJ.
Received 5 Jun 2025Asheldham Quarry, Asheldham, Essex
Received 14 Jul 2023St Peters High School,Southminster Road,Burnham on Crouch,CM0 8QB
Received 4 Aug 2003Land adjacent to Cressing Road,Faulkbourne Farm,Witham
Received 1 Apr 2004Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Rayne, Braintree, Essex, CM77 6SB
Received 22 Aug 2024Land at Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell on Sea, Southminster, Essex, CM0 7HQ
Received 16 Apr 2026Wallasea Island,Rochford,SS4 2HD
Received 1 Sept 2008Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 5 Feb 2025Chipping Hill Primary School, Owers Road, Witham, CM8 1FR
Received 16 Sept 2014Freshwaters Primary Academy Broadfields School, School Lane, HARLOW, CM20 3QA
Received 19 Jan 2018Land at Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Essex, CM2 7TE
Received 7 Aug 2017Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 15 Apr 2004Glebe Farm,Beaumont-cum-Moze,Clacton-on-Sea
Received 27 Apr 2006Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 29 Sept 2014Writtle Junior School, Margaretting Road, Writtle, Chelmsford, CM1 3HG
Received 12 Jan 2015Bouchiers Hall Farm,Inworth,Colchester
Received 13 Dec 2004Great Bentley Primary School, Plough Road, Great Bentley Essex CO7 8LD
Received 20 Jun 2023Boro Farm Newmarket, Newmarket Road, Great Chesterford, Essex, CB10 1NU
Received 7 Dec 2023Access to Essex Show Ground,Main Road,Great Leighs,Chelmsford
Received 27 Sept 2001Records 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