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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Harlow Asphalt Plant,Harlow Rail Depot,Station Approach,Harlow,CM20 2EL
Received 17 Jan 2011Roman Barracks Roman Way,All Saints C of E Primary School,Mill Road,Fordham,Colchester,CO6 3MM
Received 12 Feb 1996Friars Grove Infant School,Upland Drive,Colchester,CO4 0PZ
Received Not publishedTile Kiln Farm, Sible Hedingham, Halstead, Essex, CO9 1UP
Received 23 Feb 2024Sauls Bridge, B1018 crossing the River Brain,Maldon Road,Witham
Received 25 Nov 2003Gt Sampford Primary School,Finchingfield Road,Saffron Walden,CB10 2RL
Received 26 Jul 2006Harwich Community Primary School Playing Field,Barrack Lane,Harwich,CO123NS
Received 10 May 2006Land allocated for a new primary school under Land South of Limebrook Way and East of Maldon Wick, Maldon, Essex
Received 4 Oct 2022Old Hall Farm, Church Road, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3EJ
Received 15 May 2014Haven Quay,Haven Road,Colchester
Received 30 Apr 2009South of Roding Lane & west of M11 Near Chigwell,Luxborough Lane 2,Luxborough Lane,Chigwell,IG7 6BJ
Received 22 Aug 1990Hovefield Avenue, Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1EB
Received 8 Apr 2014Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Dec 2020Rivenhall Airfield Recycling & Composting Facility, Silver End, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 26 Jul 2006Richard De Clare Primary School,Parsonage Street,Halstead,CO9 2JT
Received 22 Dec 2000The Peter Kirk Education Centre, St. Johns Road, Stansted, CM248JP
Received 26 May 201631 Battleswick, Basildon, Essex, SS14 3LA
Received 5 Jun 2025Blackley Quarry, and land to the north east and north west of the existing quarry, A131, Great Leighs, CM3 1QP
Received 30 Jun 2020Slaughter House at Blixes Farm, Ranks Green Road, Fairstead, Essex, CM3 2BH
Received 28 Jul 2015Asheldham Quarry, Tillingham Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 16 Apr 2025Regiment Way Golf Centre,Essex Regiment Way,Little Waltham,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 11 May 2010Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Rayne, Braintree, Essex, CM77 6SB
Received 25 Jun 2024Land At Martells's Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex CO7 7RU
Received 15 Aug 2019The Cornelius Vermuyden School,Dinant Avenue,Canvey,SS8 9SQ
Received 8 Apr 2011Records 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