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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Great Baddow School,Duffield Road,Great Baddow,Chelmsford,CM2 9RZ
Received 6 Mar 2009Lee Chapel County Primary School,The Knares,Basildon,SS16 5RU
Received 15 Mar 2006Barling Landfill, Barling Marsh, Barling Magna,Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 26 Aug 1999Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 23 Jul 2018Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 23 Mar 2015Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 29 Aug 2024Kelvedon Library,Maldon Road,Kelvedon,Colchester,CO9 5BA
Received 31 Oct 2005Rayne Quarry Dunmow Road Braintree, Essex Rayne
Received 23 Sept 2020Richard De Clare Primary School,Parsonage Street,Halstead,CO9 2JT
Received 12 Aug 1997ECC Bridge no 107at Abridge,Abridge Road,Chigwell
Received 20 Jun 2007Carousel Children's Centre (Former Chapel Hill CPS),Chapel Hill,Braintree,CM7 3QZ
Received 12 Jan 2006Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne.
Received 6 Oct 2021St Andrews School,Church Road,Bulmer,Sudbury,CO10 7EH
Received 30 Apr 2008Halstead Highways Depot, Fenn Road, Braintree, Halstead, Essex, CO9 2HG
Received 18 Dec 2013Former Kores Nordic Site,West Road,Harlow,CM20 2AL
Received 13 Nov 2015Birch Airfield, Blind Lane, Birch, Essex, CO5 9XE
Received 21 Mar 2025Lyons Hall School,Deerleap Way,Braintree,CM7 9DH
Received 23 Sept 2004Curry Farm,Mill End,Bradwell-on-Sea,Maldon,CM0 7HL
Received 18 Nov 2008Woodlands School,Takeley End,Kingswood,Basildon,SS165BA
Received 31 Jan 2012Barling Marsh Quarry & Landfill, Mucking Hall Road, Barling Magna, SS3 0NR
Received 30 Sept 2021Sweyne Court,Hockley Road,Rayleigh,SS6 8EB
Received 15 Jan 2002Barling Landfill Site,Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 1 Oct 2002Land at Belsteads Farm,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 4 Sept 2002St. Clere's Pit,St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 28 Feb 2003Records 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