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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Lyons Hall School,Deerleap Way,Braintree,CM7 9DH
Received 19 Nov 2008Mulberry Tree Family Centre, Lewis Gardens, Colchester, Essex, CO1 1JH
Received 11 Dec 2023Manningtree Library, High Street, Manningtree CO11 1AD
Received 28 Jan 2021Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Dec 2020Land at Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 18 Mar 2024Old Harlow Library, 30 High Street, Harlow, Essex, CM17 0DW
Received 3 Nov 2023Highwoods Youth Centre,Highwoods Approach,Colchester
Received 12 Jan 2001Crown Quarry (Wick Farm), Old Ipswich Road, Ardleigh, CO7 7QR
Received 20 May 2022Ford Street Bridge,A1124 Ford Street,Aldham,Colchester
Received 28 Jul 2003Peter Kirk Centre, St Johns Road, Stansted, Essex, CM24 8JP
Received 29 Nov 2022Land at Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 2 Jul 2018Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, Essex, CM77 8EP
Received 11 Aug 2023Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, CO7 7RU
Received 1 Sept 2025Former Severalls Hospital Site, Northern Approach Road (Phase 3), Colchester, Essex, CO4 5HG
Received 1 Jun 2015Winter Gardens Junior & Infant Schools,Hilton Road,Canvey,SS8 9QA
Received 23 Oct 2002Ugley Landfill Site, Cambridge Road, CM22 6HT
Received 21 Jul 2026Ashley-Concorde Centres, WHitmore Way, Basildon
Received Not publishedHollow Road,Widdington,Saffron Walden,CB113SL
Received 19 Aug 2008Rainbow Family Centre, 14 Quendon Road, Basildon, SS143PD
Received 3 Jan 2001Cedar Hall School, Hart Road, Thundersley, Benfleet, Essex, SS7 3UQ
Received 3 Oct 2022Land to the west of, & adjacent to, Cambridge Road, just to south of the River Stort and Old Road, Cambridge Road, Harlow, CM20 2EU
Received 17 Mar 2021Noak Bridge Primary School,Coppice Lane,Basildon,SS154JS
Received 2 Feb 2007Indaver Rivenhall IWMF, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 15 May 2024Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 23 Jul 2026Records 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