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.
6,826 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 15 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 16 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Helena Romanes School,Parsonage Downs,Dunmow,CM6 2AY
Received 1 Feb 2010Henham & Ugley County Primary School,School Lane,Henham,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6BP
Received 17 Jul 2000Springfield Highways Depot, Colchester Road, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 21 Aug 2012Queen Boudica Primary School,Queen Boudica Primary School,Cowper Crescent,Colchester,CO4 5XT
Received 2 Jun 2009Land to the west of Winsford Way, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 5AA
Received 23 Sept 2013Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 15 Mar 2002Greenacres, Warehouse, Packards Lane, Wormingford, Essex, CO6 3AH
Received 15 Feb 2024Baddow Hall Infant School,Baddow Hall County Junior & Infants School,New Rd,Great Baddow,Chelmsford,CM2 7QZ
Received 1 Mar 2007Chase Lane Primary School,Chase Lane,Dovercourt,Harwich,CO12 4NB
Received 6 Jul 2004The Joyce Frankland Academy, Cambridge Road, NEWPORT, CB11 3TR
Received 29 Jan 2018James Waste Management, Purdeys Industrial Estate, Brickfields Way, Rochford, SS4 1NB
Received 10 Jan 2020Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 6 Mar 2023Magnox Electric Plc, Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell-on-sea, Southminster, CM0 7HP
Received 12 Mar 2019Purleigh County Primary School,Pump Lane,Purleigh,Chelmsford,CM3 6PJ
Received 3 Sept 2001Hedingham School,Yeldham Road,Sible Hedingham,Halstead,CO9 3QH
Received 22 Dec 2009Childerditch Highways Depot, Hall Drive, Childerditch Industrial Park, Childerditch, Brentwood, Essex, CM13 3HD
Received 13 Jun 2013Hanson Aggregates, Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 27 Feb 2014Birch Pit, Roundbush Corner, Maldon Road, Colchester, Layer Marney, CO5 9XE
Received 19 Aug 2022Lambs Farm,Lambs Farm,St Osyth,Clacton-on-Sea
Received 28 Jul 2000Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 4 Aug 2025Lincewood Primary School,Berry Lane,Langdon Hills,Basildon,SS166AZ
Received 8 Jul 2009Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 12 Oct 2012Colchester Pit,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 27 Feb 1995Unit 1, Cottis Yard,Purdeys Industrial Estate,Purdeys Way,Rochford
Received 29 Apr 1997Records 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