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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land forming part of Kingsmoor playing field, Parndon Wood Road, Harlow
Received 15 Sept 2017Bulls Lodge Quarry (Boreham Airfield Land), Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 4 Dec 2017Hovefield Avenue, Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1EB
Received 16 Oct 2013Ardleigh Highway Depot, Glebe Corner, Harwich Road, Ardleigh, CO7 7LA
Received 18 Feb 2016Land to the rear of the Ambulance Station,Chelmsford Road,Dunmow,CM6 1LW
Received 2 Apr 2007St Helena School,Sheepen Road,Colchester,CO3 3LE
Received 13 May 2007Hill Farm, RESERVOIR,Crown Lane,Tendring,Clacton-on-Sea,CO16 0BJ
Received 14 Dec 2004The Cornelius Vermuyden School,Dinant Avenue,Canvey,SS8 9SQ
Received 4 Jul 2008White Bridge Primary School, Loughton, IG10 3DR
Received 7 Mar 2017Hadleigh Castle Country Park,Hadleigh,Benfleet
Received 16 Jan 2006Galleywood Infant School, Barnard Road, Chelmsford, CM2 8RR
Received 25 Jul 2013Bennett Canfield,Priors Green,Takeley,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6SR
Received 23 Mar 2012Cressing Primary School, Braintree Road, Cressing, Essex, CM77 8JE
Received 29 Aug 2025Hastingwood Highway Depot,London Road,Hastingwood,Harlow,CM17 9LU
Received 23 May 2007Land at Bellhouse Farm South, Warren Lane, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 24 Apr 2026Land at Russell Green, Boreham Road, Chelmsford
Received 27 Mar 2026The Len Wastell Infant School,Pitsea Junior School,High Road,Pitsea,Basildon,SS133AB
Received 22 Dec 2005Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 14 Oct 2025Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 21 Dec 1998Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 23 Jul 2019Brightlingsea Quarry,Moverons Lane,Brightlingsea,CO7 0SB
Received 18 Dec 1998Quilters Infant & Junior School,Laindon Road,Billericay,CM12 9LD
Received 19 Feb 2004Wilson Marriage Centre.,Barrack Street,Colchester,CO1 2LR
Received 22 Jun 2007Playing Field, Car Park, Nicholls Field, Harlow, CM18 6DY
Received 4 Jul 2018Records 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