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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Castle View School, Foksville Road, Canvey Island, SS8 7AZ
Received 12 Sept 2012Yeoman Aggregates, Parkeston Quay Depot, West Dock Road, Harwich
Received 20 Feb 2012Land allocated for a new primary school under Land South of Limebrook Way and East of Maldon Wick, Maldon, Essex
Received 5 Apr 2023Market Field School,School Road,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7ET
Received 30 May 2002Theydon Bois Sewage Treatment Works, Theydon Bois, Epping, RM4 1ST
Received 31 Jan 2025Highwood Quarry, Off A120 Roundabout, Little Canfield, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 1 Sept 2026Shangri-la Caravan Park,Colchester Road,St Osyth,Clacton-on-Sea
Received 18 Jul 2003Glenwood School,Rushbottom Lane,New Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 4LW
Received 6 Aug 2002Woodlands School,Takeley End,Kingswood,Basildon,SS165BA
Received 31 Jan 2012Waltham Holy Cross Junior School, Quendon Drive, Waltham Abbey, EN9 1LG
Received 27 Jan 2014Diana Golding Centre,Braintree Resource Centre,Turnpike Place,Coggeshall Road,Braintree
Received 30 Dec 2003Land at Essex County Council waste transfer station, Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, CM77 8DL
Received 16 Jun 2016Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 10 Mar 2025Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 6 Jun 2013Birch Airfield
Received 6 Oct 2004Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 10 Jan 2001Hogarth County Junior School, Riseway, Brentwood, Essex, CM15 8BG
Received 10 Jul 2017A127/A130 Fairglen Interchange
Received 29 Jun 2020Stebbing County Primary School,High Street,Stebbing,Dunmow,CM6 3SH
Received 18 Mar 2011Land 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 7 Oct 2022Land situated off Walnut Tree Way, Colchester
Received 29 Nov 2022Rivenhall Airfield Recycling & Composting Facility, Silver End, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 10 Apr 2006Elvanite Recycling, Haven Road, Colchester, CO2 8HT
Received 15 Aug 2012Doddinghurst County Junior School,Church Lane,Doddinghurst,Brentwood,CM15 ONJ
Received 10 Jul 2007Records 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