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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
St Mary's Primary School, Hampton Road, Foresthall Park, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex
Received 30 May 2012William Martin CofE Infant & Nursery School,Tawneys Road,Harlow,CM18 6PW
Received 23 Oct 2002Dunmow St Marys Primary School, High Stile, Great Dunmow, CM6 1EB
Received 6 Sept 2019Auto Spares Station Yard, Great Bentley Road, Thorrington, CO7 8HT
Received 21 Dec 2015Loamylands Farm,Loamy Hill Road,Tolleshunt Major,Maldon,CM9 8LS
Received 7 Aug 2006Downham C of E School,Church Road,Ramsden Heath,Billericay,CM11 1NU
Received 2 Oct 2007Barling Marsh Landfill,Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 18 Dec 2000Land at Ashtree Farm, Roxwell Road, Boyton Cross, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 4LP
Received 18 Jan 2012Arnolds Farm Business Centre, 221 Ongar Road, Lambourne, Romford, Essex, RM4 1RH
Received 19 Jul 2024Frobisher Primary & Nursery School,Frobisher Drive,Jaywick,Clacton on Sea,CO15 2QH
Received 25 Apr 2001Staples Road Primary School, Staples Road, Loughton, IG101HR
Received 17 Mar 2015Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 27 Jan 2016Barnes Farm County Infant School, Henniker Gate, Chelmsford, CM2 6QH
Received 12 Jan 2015Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 7 Oct 2021Land at Wallasea Island, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 31 Oct 2014Bellhouse Pit, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 28 Jun 2012Martells Quarry , Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 28 Jul 2017Canvey Island Library,High Street,Canvey,SS8 7RB
Received 28 Apr 2005Colemans Farm Quarry, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, WITHAM, CM8 3EX
Received 19 Jul 2019Bellhouse Quarry and Landfill Site, Warren Lane, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 5 Jan 2022Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating
Received 20 Jan 2020Colchester Quarry Dry Silo Mortar Plant, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 2 Jul 2014Cory Environmental, Mucking Hall Road, Barling Magna, Southend-on-sea, SS3 0NR
Received 12 Oct 2011Broomfield Pit,Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 17 Jul 2000Records 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.

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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