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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 15 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Essex County Council Waste Transfer Station, Chelmsford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1LW
Received 16 Oct 2015Bulmer Brick & Tile Co Ltd, The Brickfields, Hedingham Road, Bulmer, Sudbury, CO107EF
Received 31 Jan 2012Green Recycling Ltd, Quayside Industrial Estate, Bates Road, Maldon, CM9 5FA
Received 5 Sept 2012Fairfields Farm, Fordham Road, Wormingford, Essex, CO6 3AQ
Received 28 Mar 2022Colbayns High School,Pathfields Road,Clacton on Sea,CO15 3JL
Received 8 Apr 2003Sannetts Creek Lagoon, Stambridge, Essex
Received 23 Mar 2016Wivenhoe Quarry,Alresford Road,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9JY
Received 26 Apr 2004Great Holts Farm,Gt Holts & Wallaces Farm,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3AU
Received 17 May 1999Land to the south of Colchester Main Road, Alresford, Nr Colchester, C07 8DB
Received 24 Apr 2022The Plume School, Fambridge Road, Maldon, Essex, CM9 6AB
Received 14 Jul 2025Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 8 Apr 2002Former Kores Nordic Site,West Road,Harlow,CM20 2AL
Received 19 Feb 2013Richard De Clare Primary School,Parsonage Street,Halstead,CO9 2JT
Received 15 Nov 2001Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 25 Nov 2024Land at Courtauld Road, basildon, Essex
Received 20 Aug 2014Green Recycling Ltd, Quayside Industrial Park, Bates Road, Maldon, Essex, CM9 5FA
Received 12 Aug 2019Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 15 Mar 2002The King Edmund School,Vaughan Close,Rochford
Received 22 Nov 2004Land at: Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 8 Apr 2022Land at Wallasea Island, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 21 Apr 2015Colemans Farm Quarry, Little Braxted Lane, Witham, Essex. CM8 3EX.
Received 21 Sept 2017The Alderman Blaxill School,Walnut Tree Way,Colchester,CO2 9DQ
Received 22 Apr 2003Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Colchester, CO7 7RU
Received 15 Mar 2016Mackers Metals, Wrexham Road, Laindon, SS15 6PX
Received 31 Mar 2015Records 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.

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