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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Marsh Farm (also 23 Kt 514),South Woodham Ferrers,Chelmsford,CM3 5WP
Received 19 Aug 2008Newport House,Molrams Lane,Great Baddow,Chelmsford,CM2 7TL
Received 10 Sept 2001Greensted Infants & Junior School, Kirby Road, Basildon,Greensted Junior School,Kirby Road,Basildon,SS141RX
Received 20 Dec 2002Westlands Community Primary School,Beeches Close,Chelmsford,CM1 2SB
Received 14 May 2004St Peter's Church Of England Primary School, Myneer Park, Coggeshall, CO6 1YU
Received 3 Jun 2019Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 14 May 2002Land at Greenacres, Packards Lane, Wormingford
Received 27 Feb 2017Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 3 Oct 2008A127/A130 Fairglen Interchange
Received 20 Dec 2020White Court County Primary School,Ennerdale Avenue,London Road,Braintree,CM777UE
Received 11 Dec 2006Area of Open Space north of Church End Lane, Runwell, SS11 7DS
Received 4 Sept 2024Land at St Cleres Hall Farm,St Clere’s Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 24 Jul 2000Birch Pit, Roundbush Corner, Maldon Road, Colchester, Layer Marney, CO5 9XE
Received 7 Apr 2025Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 8 Apr 2024Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 9 Jun 2017New Broxbourne Road,Nazeing,Waltham Abbey,EN10 6RW
Received 10 Jul 1953Pear Tree Mead Primary School, Trotters Road, Harlow, CM18 7BY
Received 16 Oct 2015Merrylands Primary School, Cumberland Drive, Laindon, Essex, SS15 6QS
Received 10 Nov 2015Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 2 Apr 2025Epping Primary School,Coronation Hill,Epping,CM16 5DU
Received 6 Aug 2009Sandon Quarry,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 5 May 1992Canvey Junior & Infants School,Hawkesbury Road,Canvey,SS8 0DG
Received 28 Aug 2007Canvey Junior & Infants School,Hawkesbury Road,Canvey,SS8 0DG
Received 15 Aug 2006Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 18 Mar 2026Records 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
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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.

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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