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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Wimbish CPS,Wimbish County Primary School,Maple Lane,Tye Green,Wimbish,Saffron Walden,CB10 2XE
Received 9 Mar 2005Alresford County Primary School,Ford Lane,Alresford,Colchester,CO7 8AU
Received 26 Oct 2009St Peters C Of E Primary School, School Road, Sible Hedingham, Essex, CO9 3NR
Received 17 Jun 2024Stewards Comprehensive School,Parnall Road,Harlow,CM18 7NQ
Received 26 May 2004Green Recycling Ltd, Quayside Industrial Estate, Bates Road, Maldon, CM9 5FA
Received 5 Sept 2012Hatfield Peverel Infant School,Church Road,Hatfield Peverel,Chelmsford,CM3 2RP
Received 22 Feb 2005Land at Wallasea Island, Essex
Received 4 May 2012Tiptree Heath CPS,103 Maldon Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 OPG
Received 30 Jan 2001Alec Hunter School,Stubbs Lane,Braintree,CM7 3NR
Received 16 May 2007Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 11 May 2012Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 12 Dec 2011St Mary's C of E County Primary School,Docwra Road,Kelvedon,Colchester,CO5 9DS
Received 26 Sept 200858-60 Hambro Hill, (Site 2),Rayleigh
Received 14 Oct 1948(New primary school site),Maltings Lane,Witham,CM8 1SX
Received 13 Feb 2009Stansted to Braintree A120,Braintree
Received 27 Oct 2000Dannatts Quarry,Barnards Farm Pit,Hatfield Peverel,Chelmsford
Received 8 Feb 2001Roding Valley High School, Alderton Hill, Loughton, IG103JA
Received 12 May 2017Doddinghurst County Junior School,Church Lane,Doddinghurst,Brentwood,CM15 ONJ
Received 10 Jul 2007Former Mountfitchet High School,Mountfitchet Maths & Computing College,Forest Hall Road,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM248TZ
Received 9 Aug 2004Pitsea Junior School,High Road,Pitsea,Basildon,SS133AB
Received 20 Feb 1998Earls Colne Primary School, Park Lane, Earls Colne, CO6 2RH
Received 25 Sept 2019Blackley Quarry, and land to the north east and north west of the existing quarry, A131, Great Leighs, CM3 1QP
Received 29 Jan 2026Tiptree Basketworks and Woodyard
Received 24 Oct 2000Veolia E S Uk Ltd, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Basildon, SS164UH
Received Not publishedRecords 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