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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Hovefield Avenue, Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1EB
Received 21 Aug 2015Belsteads Farm,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 4 Sept 2002Hatfield Heath County Primary School,Chelmsford Road,Hatfield Heath
Received 26 Jun 2003Highwoods Primary School, Tynedale Square, Highwoods, Colchester, CO4 9SN
Received 3 Apr 2013Hamford C P School, Elm Tree Avenue, Walton On The Naze, CO14 8TE
Received 17 Dec 2018Elsenham Quarry,Hall Rd,Elsenham,Bishops Stortford,CM22 6DJ
Received 18 Aug 2003Former Severalls Hospital Site (Phase 3), Northern Approach Road, Colchester, Essex
Received 22 Jan 2016Land surrounding Millennium Way (B1018) and the A120, Braintree
Received 11 Feb 2019Land to the north of Hovefields Court, Hovefields Avenue, Basildon, Essex
Received 12 May 2014Dr Walkers CE Primary School,Walker Avenue,Fyfield,Ongar,CM5 0RG
Received 14 Apr 2003D R Brown Contracts, Temple Bank, Harlow, CM20 2DY
Received 11 Mar 2019Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 13 Sept 2022Newport House, Molrams Lane, Great Baddow, Chelmsford CM2 7TL,Newport House,Molrams Lane,Great Baddow,Chelmsford,CM2 7TL
Received 2 Jun 1999Land at Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 18 Jan 2021Land north of Bluebridge Industrial Estate,Halstead,CM9 2SZ
Received 5 Jul 2010The Notley High School,Notley High School,Notley Road,Braintree,CM7 1HL
Received 24 Jul 2002Newport House & The Lodge, Molrams Lane, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 7TL
Received 20 Jun 2025Land to the west of Winsford Way, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 5AA
Received 23 Sept 2013Wallasea Island,Rochford,SS4 2HD
Received 18 Mar 2013Tile Kiln Quarry, (Foxborough Hills),Sible Hedingham,Halstead
Received 10 Nov 2003Harlow Park Nursery East of A414 Harlow
Received 10 Dec 2002Unit 2,Rawreth Industrial Estate,Rawreth Lane,Rayleigh,SS6 9RL
Received 1 Jul 2005Former Chetwood Primary School site, Shirebourn Vale, South Woodham Ferrers, Chelmsford, CM3 5ZX
Received 28 Jul 2026St Marys Primary School, High Stile, Great Dunmow,St Marys Primary School,High Stile,Dunmow,CM6 1EB
Received 13 Mar 2008Records 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