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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Tamar Energy, Sixth Avenue, Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, Essex, CO9 2HG
Received 19 Mar 2015Ghyllgrove County Infant & Junior School,The Gore,Ghyllgrove,Basildon,SS142BD
Received 29 Nov 2004Sandon Quarry Southend Road Chelmsford Sandon CM2 7TE
Received 16 Dec 2025Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, BRADWELL, CM77 8EP
Received 5 Feb 2018Colchester Quarry (Bellhouse) Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 4 Sept 2020Stanway Fiveways Primary School, Winstree Road, Stanway, CO3 0QG
Received 26 Sept 2017Bulls Lodge Quarry (Boreham Airfield only), Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 11 Jun 2014Playing Fields,Debden CoE (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School,Church Lane,Debden,Saffron Walden,CB11 3LE
Received 3 Oct 2003Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 6 Mar 2002Nazeing Primary School, Hyde Mead, Nazeing, Waltham Abbey, EN9 2HS
Received 13 Apr 2021Red House,School Road,Messing,Colchester,CO5 9TH
Received 18 Oct 1999Highwood Quarry, Little Canfield, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 26 Jul 2016Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Essex, CB11 3RX
Received 31 Oct 2017Fen Farm,Fen Chase,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7HA
Received 27 Nov 2006Little Waltham C Of E Primary School, The Street, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, CM3 3NY
Received 29 Jun 2017School Buildings,Debden C of E Primary School,High Street,Debden,Saffron Walden,CB11 3LE
Received 18 Nov 2010Cressing Primary School, Braintree Road, Cressing, Essex, CM77 8JE
Received 18 Jul 2025Clacton County High School, Walton Road, Clacton On Sea, CO15 6DZ
Received 16 Mar 2021Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 17 Feb 2009Henham & Ugley County Primary School,School Lane,Henham,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6BP
Received 24 Jul 2003Crumps Farm,Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 2 Jun 2000St Giles C E Primary School,Church Street,Gt Maplestead,Halstead,CO9 2RG
Received 19 Nov 1998Barling Landfill,Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 15 Dec 1999Great Baddow High School, Duffield Road, Great Baddow, CHELMSFORD, CM2 9RZ
Received 27 Jul 2017Records 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