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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 at Andrewes Way, Wolsey Park, Rayleigh
Received 1 Aug 2026Greensted Junior School,Kirby Road,Basildon,SS141RX
Received 2 Jul 2009St Peters Church of England Primary School, Wigley Bush Lane, SOUTH WEALD, CM14 5QN
Received 28 Jun 2016Wick Farm, Ardleigh RESERVOIR,Crown Quarry (Ardleigh Reservoir Extension),Old Ipswich Road,Tendring,Colchester,CO7 7QR
Received 26 Oct 2015Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 13 Dec 2002Barleylands Depot,Barleylands Road,Billericay,CM112UF
Received 22 Jan 2003Brightlingsea Quarry, Moverons Lane, Brightlingsea, CO7 0SB
Received 7 Feb 2023Land at Rayne Quarry, Broadfield Farm, Dunmow Road, Rayne, Braintree, CM77 6SA
Received 28 Apr 2026Chigwell Primary School,50 High Road,Chigwell,IG7 6DW
Received 20 Aug 2002Billericay Library & Register Office,Burstead Lodge,High Street,Billericay,CM12 9AB
Received 10 Nov 2008Bentfield County Primary School, Rainsford Road, Stansted Mountfitchet,Bentfield County Primary School,Rainsford Rd,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM24 8DX
Received 13 May 1998Land north of Bluebridge Industrial Estate,Halstead,CM9 2SZ
Received 22 Apr 2013Runwell Cp School, Canewdon Gardens, Wickford, SS117BJ
Received 14 Dec 2015Boreham Primary School, Juniper Road, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3DB
Received 24 Jun 2016Marsh House,Brickfield Road,Vange,Basildon,SS16 4QG
Received 23 Dec 2002A120 Parkeston Bypass,Phase 1B & Stage 2,Harwich
Received 27 Mar 1998Mildamy Infant School and Nursery,Mildmay Infant and Nursery School,Robin Way,Chelmsford,CM2 8AU
Received 14 Jun 2002Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land south of Cuthedge Lane.
Received 5 Apr 2022Land to the north of and within Belsteads Landfill Site,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 4 Sept 2002Land to the rear of the Ambulance Station,Chelmsford Road,Dunmow,CM6 1LW
Received 5 May 2000Nazeing County Primary School,Hyde Mead,Nazeing,Waltham Abbey,EN9 2HS
Received 15 Jun 2007Land allocated for a new primary school under Land South of Limebrook Way and East of Maldon Wick, Maldon, Essex
Received 2 Jun 2023Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 1 Jun 2022Land north east side of A1124 Halstead Road,Eight Ash Green,Colchester,CO6 3QB
Received 10 Jul 2006Records 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