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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Inert Waste Transfer Station,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 12 Aug 2010Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, CM9 8BQ
Received 14 Nov 2018Pitsea Waste Management Site,Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 29 Aug 1997Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 29 Aug 2019Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 4 Oct 2004Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 19 Aug 2014Wells Park School, School Lane, Chigwell, Essex, IG7 6NN
Received 28 Sept 2026Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 25 Nov 2009Springfield Parish Centre, St. Augustines Way, Chelmsford, CM1 6GX
Received 24 Aug 2012Boreham Primary School, Juniper Road, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3DB
Received 14 Jun 2021Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, Essex, CM3 3LU
Received 24 Jul 2017Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Essex, CB11 3SL
Received 5 Jul 2023Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 14 Mar 2023Star Lane Brickworks,Star Lane Brickworks,Great Wakering,Southend-on-Sea
Received 9 Feb 1995Land to the south of Park Farm,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 9 Dec 2010North & West Adult Community College,Rivermill Centre,Hoding Road,Harlow,CM20 1NW
Received 16 Aug 1999Clavering Primary School,Stortford Rd,Clavering,Saffron Walden,CB11 4PE
Received 4 Oct 2001Moulsham Infant and Junior Schools, Princes Road, Chelmsford, CM2 9DG
Received 26 Nov 2015Laindon Park Primary School, Church Hill, Basildon, Laindon, Essex, SS15 5SE
Received 6 Jun 2014Ferry Road Pumping Station, Hullbridge, Essex (Kendal Park section only)
Received 16 Feb 2021Leverton County Gm Junior And Infant School, Honey Lane, Waltham Abbey, EN9 3BE
Received 7 Apr 2020Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 14 Jan 2025Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 29 Aug 2024Glenwood Special School, Rushbottom Lane, Thundersley, Benfleet, SS7 4LW
Received 26 Sept 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
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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.

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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