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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Playgroup At Noak Bridge County Primary School, Coppice Lane, Basildon, SS15 4JS
Received 24 Sept 2018Bellcroft, Eastways Ind. Estate,Bellcroft,Eastways Ind. Estate,Witham
Received 21 May 1996Royal Oak Quarry, Chelmsford Road, Woodham Mortimer, CM9 6TJ
Received 10 Mar 2015Css South Quadrant, Fairview Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 1PW
Received 7 Oct 2022Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, ARDLEIGH, CO7 7RU
Received 23 May 2017Roscommon Way Canvey Island,Roscommon Way,Canvey
Received 5 Apr 2012Bentfield County Primary School,Rainsford Rd,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM24 8DX
Received 16 Nov 1998Veolia, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Essex, SS16 4UH
Received 10 Jun 2026Cobb’s Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, CM9 8BQ
Received 6 Feb 2019Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 22 May 2024Lexden County Primary School, Trafalgar Road, Colchester, Essex, CO3 9AS
Received 9 Apr 2026Elsenham Landfill Site, Viridor Waste Management, Hall Road, Elsenham, Essex, CM22 6DJ
Received 22 Feb 2016Downham C of E School,Church Road,Ramsden Heath,Billericay,CM11 1NU
Received 31 Aug 2006Danbury Haulage, St. Cleres Hall Pit, Danbury, Chelmsford, CM3 4AR
Received 26 Mar 2012Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 25 Feb 2005Scripps Farm,Coggeshall,Colchester
Received 23 Jul 2007Curry Farm, Mill End, Bradwell-on-Sea, Maldon, Essex, CM0 7HL
Received 5 Jul 2013Felmore Primary School,Davenants,Pitsea,Basildon,SS131QZ
Received 27 Aug 2009Place Farm, Place Farm Lane, Doddinghurst, Essex, CM15 0JA
Received 28 Jan 2026Ardleigh St Marys C of E Primary School, Colchester Road, ARDLEIGH, CO7 7NS
Received 9 Mar 2018Bradwell Quarry, Coggeshall Road, Bradwell, Near Braintree, Essex, CM778EP and land south of Bradwell Quarry on part of Rivenhall Airfield and east of Sheepcoates Lane.
Received 6 Mar 2012Elsenham Church of England Primary School, High Street, ELSENHAM, CM22 6DD
Received 5 Mar 2018St Georges C E P School,Brook Street,Gt Bromley,Colchester
Received 23 May 2001Broads Green,Gt Waltham,Chelmsford,CM3 1DZ
Received 2 May 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