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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Felsted Primary School,Watch House Green,Felsted,Dunmow,CM6 3EB
Received 12 Mar 2010Land at Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, WITHAM, CM8 3EX
Received 26 Jul 2016Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, BRADWELL, CM77 8EP
Received 5 Feb 2018High Ongar Primary School,The Street,High Ongar,Ongar,CM5 9NB
Received 18 Jul 2008County Hall Site,Market Road,Chelmsford,CM1 1QH
Received 3 Sept 2002Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 16 Aug 1994Prettygate Library, Prettygate Road, Colchester, Essex, CO3 4EQ
Received 3 Sept 2015Friars Grove Infant School,Upland Drive,Colchester,CO4 0PZ
Received 2 Mar 2010A133 Colchester to Clacton (Frating Roundabout)
Received 29 Oct 2019Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren lane, Stanway Colchester C03 0NN
Received 14 Jun 2019Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 19 Jun 2014Moreton S & G Pit,Harlow Road,Moreton,Ongar,CM5 0GQ
Received 1 Feb 1996New Farm, Elsenham Road, Stansted, CM24 8SS
Received 7 Sept 2015Frobisher Primary & Nursery School,Frobisher Drive,Jaywick,Clacton on Sea,CO15 2QH
Received 5 Jul 2011Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 19 May 2020Mark Hall School,First Avenue,Harlow,CM17 9LR
Received 9 Aug 2005Land At Martells's Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex CO7 7RU
Received 7 Oct 2022Land at Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell on Sea, Southminster, Essex, CM0 7HQ
Received 23 Dec 2020Breaker's Yard,Cockett Wick Lane,St Osyth,Clacton-on-Sea,CO16 8SE
Received 29 Oct 2004Mill Lane, High Ongar, CM5 9RG
Received 11 Feb 2014Railway Goods Yard, Brook Street, Chelmsford,Chelmsford Rail Sidings,New Street,Chelmsford,CM1 1SU
Received 18 Jan 1999Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land south of Cuthedge Lane.
Received 9 Jan 2024Basildon Community Centre,Clay Hill Road,Vange,Basildon,SS164NF
Received 21 Jun 2005Plots G4 & G6 Purdeys Way Ind Est, Rochford,Purdeys Industrial Estate,Purdeys Way,Rochford
Received 27 Jan 2003Records 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.

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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