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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
James Waste Management, Purdeys Industrial Estate, Brickfields Way, Rochford, Essex, SS4 1NB
Received 30 Aug 2018Land at Greenacres, Packards Lane, Wormingford. At Greenacres, Warehouse, Packards Lane, Wormingford, Essex, CO6 3AH
Received 28 Jul 2026West Road, Harlow, CM20 2AL
Received 9 Aug 2017Burnt Mill Comprehensive School,First Avenue,Harlow,CM20 2NR
Received 11 Oct 2006Harlow Road,Moreton,Ongar,CM5 0GQ
Received 12 Dec 1938Green Recycling Ltd, Quayside Industrial Estate, Bates Road, Maldon, CM9 5FA
Received 5 Sept 2012Two Village Primary School,Mayes Lane,Ramsey,Harwich,CO12 5HP
Received 26 Jun 2007Mid Essex Magistrates Courts, Shire Hall, Tindal Square, Chelmsford, CM1 1RA
Received 20 Dec 2013Epping Upland Primary School,Carter's Lane,Epping Green,Epping,CM16 6AJ
Received 4 Jul 2000Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between, Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 14 Dec 2018Business & Technology Centre,Chroma House,Shire Hill,Saffron Walden,CB11 3AQ
Received 19 Aug 2004Land at Essex County Council waste transfer station, West Road, Harlow, CM20 2AL
Received 16 Jun 2016St Andrews CofE Primary School, School Green Lane, North Weald, Epping, Essex, CM16 6EH
Received 13 May 2016Land at Colemans Farm, Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 29 Jul 2016Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 19 Jan 2018Tiptree Heath CPS,103 Maldon Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 OPG
Received 29 Jan 1998Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, CM9 8BQ
Received 15 Jan 2019Land forming part of Kingsmoor playing field, Parndon Wood Road, Harlow
Received 5 Feb 2018A120 Ardleigh Waste Transfer Station, Colchester Eastern Bypass, Ardleigh, CO7 7SL
Received 2 Nov 2016Brightlingsea County Infant & Junior School,Eastern Road,Brightlingsea,CO7 0HU
Received 5 Dec 2001Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 23 Mar 2016Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Dec 2020Alton Park County Junior and The Leas Schools,Alton Park Road,Clacton on Sea,CO15 1DL
Received 25 Apr 2001Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 26 Nov 2020Records 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.

Understanding planning · 13 min read
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