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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Unit 10,Brunel Road,Benfleet,Canvey,SS7 4PS
Received 26 Jul 2010Winter Gardens Junior & Infant Schools,Hilton Road,Canvey,SS8 9QA
Received 11 May 2006Mildmay Infant and Nursery School,Robin Way,Chelmsford,CM2 8AU
Received 24 Jul 2007Land at Keelars & Sunnymead Farms,Wivenhoe Quarry,Alresford Road,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9JY
Received 25 Jul 1996Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 19 May 2020Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 13 Jan 2017Elsenham Sand Quarry,Elsenham Quarry,Hall Rd,Elsenham,Bishops Stortford,CM22 6DJ
Received 4 Sept 1998Former Heath School Site, Winstree Road, Stanway, Colchester
Received 24 Nov 2017Hillhouse Primary School,Ninefields,Waltham Abbey,EN9 3BE
Received 14 Feb 2007Stonecroft,Leywood Close,Braintree,CM7 3NP
Received 5 Nov 1999Chase Lane Primary School, Chase Lane, Harwich, CO124NB
Received 1 Nov 2012Land at Wallasea Island, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 7 Mar 2016Great Tey CofE Primary School,Chrismund Way,Great Tey,Colchester,CO6 1AZ
Received 23 Apr 2002Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Basildon, SS164UH
Received 14 Nov 2011Hollow Road,Widdington,Saffron Walden,CB113SL
Received 10 Nov 2004Wivenhoe Quarry,Alresford Road,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9JY
Received 11 Jul 2005Janet Duke Primary School, Markhams Chase, Laindon, Basildon, SS155LS
Received 16 Nov 1998James Hornsby High School,Leinster Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS155NX
Received 23 Jul 2003Royal Oak Quarry,Chelmsford Rd,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM9 6TJ
Received 2 Jul 2012Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 2 Feb 2004Witham,Perry Road,Witham
Received 4 May 1993Lincewood Primary School, Berry Lane, Langdon Hills, Basildon SS16 6AZ
Received Not publishedFelsted Primary School,Watch House Green,Felsted,Dunmow,CM6 3EB
Received 5 May 2009Heybridge County Primary School,Rowan Drive,Heybridge,Maldon,CM9 4TU
Received 27 Jul 2001Records 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.

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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