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6,826 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Highwoods Quarry, Stortford Road, Dunmow CM6 1SL
Received 13 Apr 2020Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 22 Oct 2012Ugley Landfill Site, Cambridge Road, CM22 6HT
Received 12 Jul 2022Northwick Park Primary School, Third Avenue, Canvey Island, Essex, SS8 9SU
Received 30 May 2017Plume Academy, Mill Road Campus, Mill Road, CM9 5DU
Received 11 Mar 2025Bridgemarsh Care Home, 184 Main Road, Broomfield, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 7AJ
Received 12 Sept 2022Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HR
Received 8 Jan 2026Church Langley Primary School,Church Langley Way,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9TH
Received 12 Jul 2000Highwood Quarry, Off A120 Roundabout, Little Canfield, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 1 Sept 2026Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge roundabout on A131, Great Leighs Parish, to NE Chelmsford.
Received 4 Feb 2025Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land east of Sheepcotes Lane
Received 11 Feb 2022Fordham All Saints Primary School,All Saints C of E Primary School,Mill Road,Fordham,Colchester,CO6 3MM
Received 2 Sept 2011Vacant Land, Circular Road East, Colchester
Received 21 Aug 2013Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, C05 9DF
Received 14 Oct 2024Halstead Highways Depot, Fenn Road, Halstead, CO9 2HG
Received 18 Apr 2019Brightlingsea County Infant & Junior School,Eastern Road,Brightlingsea,CO7 0HU
Received 10 Jul 2008Pitsea Landfill Site, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, SS16 4UH
Received 5 Dec 2017Continuation of use for the importation, Tiptree Quarry, Grange Road, Tiptree, Essex
Received 19 Dec 2012Stanway Winstree Rd Stanway,Heathlands C of E Primary School,New Church Road,West Bergholt,Colchester,CO6 3JF
Received 1 Mar 1996Magnox Electric Plc, Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell-on-sea, Southminster, CM0 7HP
Received 2 Dec 2016Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 7 Nov 2012Clarance House,22 Watling Street,Thaxted,Dunmow,CM6 2PJ
Received 12 Nov 2003Part O S No 5319, Bures TL 8934 Ferriers Farm,Bures Hamlet,Sudbury
Received 20 Oct 1964Southminster Hall,Goldsands Road,Southminster,CM0 7JR
Received 26 Feb 2008Records 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