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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Thriftwood School,Slades Lane,Galleywood,Chelmsford,CM2 2RW
Received 20 Aug 2002Highwoods Community School, Tynedale Square, Colchester,Highwoods C P S,Tyndale Square,Highwoods,Colchester,CO4 9SN
Received 28 May 2004Pitsea Junior School,High Road,Pitsea,Basildon,SS133AB
Received 1 May 2002Land to the east of Buttleys Lane, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SH
Received 13 Dec 2024Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, Essex, CO5 9DF
Received 4 Aug 2015Cory Environmental, Mucking Hall Road, Barling Magna, Southend-on-sea, SS3 0NR
Received 20 Aug 2014Waste Transfer Station, Winsford Way, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM2 5AA
Received 17 Feb 2020Monkwick County Infant School,School Road,Colchester,CO2 8NN
Received 20 Jun 2002Elsenham Quarry, Hall Road, Elsenham, CM22 6DR
Received 17 Jan 2018Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 12 Mar 2015Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 2 Feb 2017Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 18 Dec 2012Land at Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 28 Feb 2020Great Bradfords Infant School,Marlborough Road,Braintree,CM7 9LW
Received 29 Apr 2003Pitsea Landfill Site,Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 1 Feb 1994Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 22 Mar 2012Tile Kiln Quarry, (Foxborough Hills),Sible Hedingham,Halstead
Received 16 Oct 1985Essex Record Office, Wharf Road, Chelmsford CM2 6YT
Received 14 Oct 2021Martells Quarry Slough Lane Ardleigh Essex CO7 7RU
Received 1 Jul 2024Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 25 Nov 2019Helena Romanes School, Parsonage Downs, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 2AU
Received 26 Jun 2023Great Baddow School,Duffield Road,Great Baddow,Chelmsford,CM2 9RZ
Received 8 Oct 2009Land at Royal Oak Quarry, Maldon Road, Woodham Mortimer”.
Received 25 Mar 2020Fingringhoe Quarry,Ballast Quay,Fingringhoe,Colchester
Received 17 Jul 2009Records 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