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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
John Bunyan Infant & Nursery and Junior School,John Bunyan County Inants School,Lancaster Way,Braintree,CM7 5UL
Received 6 Apr 2006Arnolds Farm Business Centre, 221 Ongar Road, Lambourne, Romford, Essex, RM4 1RH
Received 19 Jul 2024Marsh Farm, Vange By-Pass, Basildon, Essex, SS164QG
Received 15 Aug 2013Land to the West of Kennel Lane, Great Burstead, Essex, CM11 2ST
Received 20 Nov 2015Sunnymede Infant School,Mons Avenue,Billericay,CM11 2HQ
Received 8 Sept 2000Gt Bardfield Country Primary School,Braintree Road,Gt Bardfield,Halstead,CM74 4RN
Received 7 Aug 1996Land North Of Generals Lane Roundabout, Generals Lane, Boreham. Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HJ
Received 21 Feb 2025Galleywood Infant School, Barnard Road, Galleywood, Chelmsford, CM2 8RR
Received 30 Sept 2020Part of former Severalls Hospital Site, Northern Approach Road (Phase 3), Colchester, Essex, CO4 5HG
Received 16 Jun 2015Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 6 Oct 2021St Lawrence Junior & Thomas Tallis Infant Schools, Ninefields, Hillhouse, Waltham Abbey,Hillhouse Primary School,Ninefields,Waltham Abbey,EN9 3BE
Received 26 Jun 2006Felmore Junior School,Felmore Primary School,Davenants,Pitsea,Basildon,SS131QZ
Received 30 Nov 2000High Ongar Primary School,The Street,High Ongar,Ongar,CM5 9NB
Received 23 Jun 2000Ford Street Bridge,A1124 Ford Street,Aldham,Colchester
Received 15 Oct 2002Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 17 Nov 2014Glebe Infant and Junior School,Creswick Avenue,Rayleigh,SS6 9HG
Received 2 Jul 2007Veerman Lodge,Veermans Lodge,Thaxted Road,Saffron Walden,CB10 2UR
Received 17 Jan 2006De Vere County Primary School, Kirby Hall Road, Castle Hedingham, Halstead,De Vere County Primary School,Kirby Hall Road,Castle Hedingham,Halstead
Received 16 Jan 1998The William de Ferrers School,Trinity Square,South Woodham Ferrers,Chelmsford,CM3 5JU
Received 21 Apr 2005St. James School, Guildford Road, Colchester, CO1 2RA
Received 8 Jul 2015Land allocated for a new primary school under Land South of Limebrook Way and East of Maldon Wick, Maldon, Essex
Received 5 Apr 2023Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Essex, CB11 3SL
Received 11 Feb 2016School Road, Clacton-on-Sea,Tendring County Primary School,Main Rd,Tendring,Clacton-on-Sea,CO16 0BP
Received 1 Jun 2001Land at: Colemans Farm Quarry, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 11 May 2021Records 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