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.
6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 15 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 18 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 2 Aug 2012Mersea Centre for Outdoor Learning, Rewsalls Lane, East Mersea, Essex CO5 8SY
Received 12 Jul 2013The Hereward County Primary School, Colebrook Lane, Loughton, IG102HR
Received 28 Mar 2013Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 31 Mar 2015Kingswode Hoe School,Sussex Road,Lexden,Colchester,CO3 3QJ
Received 17 Nov 2010Jaywick Water Recycling Centre, off Jaywick Lane
Received 2 Jun 2017Land to the North of Hovefields Court, Hovefields Avenue, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1EB
Received 29 Apr 2016St Andrews C of E Primary School,Mandeville Road,Marks Tey,Colchester,CO6 1HL
Received 2 Jun 2004Pitsea Landfill Site,Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 16 Dec 1997Barnes Farm Infant & Junior Schools,Henniker Gate,Chelmer Village,Chelmsford,CM2 6QH
Received 28 Mar 2003Stanway Primary School,Villa Road,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0RH
Received 14 Jul 2008Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 22 May 2003A120 Stansted to Braintree scheme
Received 5 Sept 2001Preferred Area K, Liitle Easton,Little Easton Airfield,Little Easton,Dunmow,CM6 2BB
Received 12 Dec 2011Land by Church Hill and each side of A120,Ramsey,Harwich
Received 26 Jul 2005Former Park School,St Nicholas C of E (V/C) Primary School,Priory Chase,Rayleigh,SS6 9NE
Received 18 Apr 2005Stansted to Braintree A120,Braintree
Received 27 Oct 2000Land At Archers Fields, Pitsea, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1DH
Received 27 May 2026The Henry Moore Primary School,Kiln Lane,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9LW
Received 11 May 2000White Court Primary School, Ennerdale Avenue, Great Notley, CM77 7UE
Received 22 Oct 2021Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 24 Jun 2014Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 16 Dec 2025Silver End Cp School, School Road, Silver End, Witham, CM8 3RZ
Received 28 Nov 2014Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Saffon Walden, CM11 3SL
Received 13 Jul 2012Records 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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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