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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 1 May 2003The Joyce Frankland Academy, Cambridge Road, Newport, CB11 3TR
Received 21 Sept 2017Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, BRADWELL, CM77 8EP
Received 5 Feb 2018Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 19 May 2020Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 7 Dec 1992Winter Gardens Infant Schools, Hilton Road, Canvey Island,Winter Gardens Junior & Infant Schools,Hilton Road,Canvey,SS8 9QA
Received 21 Oct 2002Hilltop County Infants & Junior School,Hill Avenue,Wickford,SS11 8LT
Received 21 Dec 2001Ugley Landfill Site, Cambridge Road, UGLEY, CM22 6HT
Received 2 Apr 2020Woodhouse Lane, Kelvedon, CO5 9DF
Received 5 Jan 2022Castledon College, Bromfords Drive, Wickford, Essex, SS12 0PW
Received 16 Apr 2024St Marys Primary School,High Stile,Dunmow,CM6 1EB
Received 1 May 2001Oaklands Infant School,Vicarage Road,Chelmsford,CM2 9PH
Received 20 Jan 2006Elm Hall Cp School, Conrad Road, Witham, CM8 2SD
Received 19 Dec 2012Sawyers Hall College, Sawyers Hall Lane, Brentwood, Essex, CM15 9DA
Received 4 Sept 2014Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 16 Dec 2025Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 9 May 2022Harwich & Dovercourt Sewage Treatment Works
Received 2 Jul 2012Harwich Library, Kingsway, Harwich, Essex, CO12 3JT
Received 11 Dec 2013South Essex Respite Care Unit,Berry Lane,Langdon Hills,Basildon,SS166HG
Received 28 Apr 1998Land at Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex
Received 17 Jul 2014Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 14 Sept 2020Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP
Received 18 Jan 2016Woodlands School, Takely End, Basildon, Essex, SS16 5TF
Received 29 Oct 2014Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 8 Apr 2024Records 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