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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
The Hereward County Primary School, Colebrook Lane, Loughton, IG102HR
Received 28 Mar 2013Henham & Ugley County Primary School,School Lane,Henham,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6BP
Received 16 Mar 2011Highlands Farm, Southend Road, Rettendon Common, Chelmsford, CM3 8EB
Received 3 May 2013Burnham on Crouch County Primary School,Dunkirk Road,Burnham on Crouch,CM0 8LG
Received 3 Mar 2004Lakelands Primary School, Land off Wagtail Mews, Stanway, Colchester
Received 8 Oct 2020Wickford Clubhouse, 34 Runwell Road, Wickford
Received Not publishedBarling Landfill Site,Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 11 Feb 1998LAND TO THE SOUTH OF COLCHESTER MAIN ROAD (KNOWN AS SUNNYMEAD, ELMSTEAD AND HEATH FARMS), ALRESFORD NR WIVENHOE CO7 8DB
Received 15 Dec 2023Land to the east of Bradfields Farm, Burnt Mills Road, Basildon
Received 31 May 2018The Cornelius Vermuyden School,Dinant Avenue,Canvey,SS8 9SQ
Received 27 Jan 2004Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 15 Feb 2022Jotmans Hall County Primary School,High Road,Benfleet,SS7 5RG
Received 9 May 2006Danbury Outdoors, Well Lane, Danbury, Chelmsford, CM3 4AB
Received 5 Sept 2018Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 17 Sept 2009Stambourne Water Recycling Centre and Fell Road, Birdbrook
Received 25 Mar 2024Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 16 Jul 2025Crown Quarry (Ardleigh Reservoir Extension), Wick Farm, Old Ipswich Road, Tendring, Colchester, CO7 7QR
Received 8 Mar 2022CSS South Quadrant, Fairview Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 1PW
Received 28 Jun 2022Land adjacent to 200 Essex House,The Crescent,Colchester Business Park,Colchester,CO4 9YQ
Received 7 Dec 2010Elsenham Cof E Primary School,High Street,Elsenham,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6DD
Received 23 Oct 2002Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 4 Jul 2025Land at Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 16 Feb 2024Essex County Council Waste Transfer Station, Chelmsford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1LW
Received 10 Apr 2024Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 31 Oct 2014Records 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