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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 2 Feb 2017Land At Archers Fields, Pitsea, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1DH
Received 27 May 2026Fawbert & Barnards (undl) Primary School, London Road, Harlow, CM170DA
Received 24 Nov 2011The Sweyne Park School,Pearson Avenue,Rayleigh,SS6 9BZ
Received 1 Mar 1994Site off New Parsonage Lane, Gt Saling, Braintree CM7 5ER,Site off New Parsonage Lane,Gt Saling,Braintree,CM7 5ER
Received 28 Jul 1999Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 16 Dec 2025Unit1,Rawreth Industrial Est,Rawreth Lane,Rayleigh
Received 11 Apr 1991Recycling Centre For Household Waste, Braintree Road, Shalford, Essex. CM7 5HQ
Received 26 Sept 2017Colemans Farm Quarry, Little Braxted Lane, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 29 Jun 2017Land to the east of Brickfields Way, Brickfields Way, Rochford, SS4 1NB
Received 24 Mar 2015Powers Hall Junior School,Spa Road,Witham,CM8 1NA
Received 14 Feb 2007Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 3 Mar 2020Wilson Marriage Centre.,Barrack Street,Colchester,CO1 2LR
Received 9 Sept 2004Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge Roundabout on A131, Great & Little Leighs Parish, to the north east of Chelmsford.
Received 4 Apr 2024St Peters Cof E Primary School,Carters Hill,Boxted, Colchester,CO4 5YN
Received 2 May 2012Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 21 Dec 2020St. James School, Guildford Road, Colchester, CO1 2RA
Received 3 Apr 2013Market Field School,School Road,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7ET
Received 17 Oct 2002Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, BRADWELL, CM77 8EP
Received 30 Sept 2020Shalford Primary School, Church End, SHALFORD, Essex, CM7 5EZ
Received 3 Jun 2016Waste Transfer Station, Winsford Way, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 5PD
Received 15 Feb 2022Curry Farm Pit, Mill End, Bradwell-On-Sea, CM0 7HL
Received 6 Oct 2018Yard A,Kings Road,Charfleets Ind Est,Canvey,SS8 0PQ
Received 13 Nov 20096 Armstrong Road, Manor Trading Estate, Benfleet, Essex SS7 4PW
Received 23 Aug 2022Records 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