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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Trevear,Barnards Farm Pit,Hatfield Peverel,Chelmsford
Received 7 May 1996Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, CM9 8BQ
Received 16 Jan 2019Former Kores Nordic Site,West Road,Harlow,CM20 2AL
Received 19 Feb 2013Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 4 Feb 2025Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 8 Nov 2012Dunmow St Marys Primary School, High Stile, Great Dunmow. CM6 1EB
Received 4 Sept 2019Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 11 Mar 2024Alderton Infant and Junior School, Alderton Hall Lane, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3HE
Received 24 Feb 2014Waste Transfer Station, Colchester Eastern Bypass, Ardleigh, CO7 7SL
Received 20 May 2019The Chase, Newhall, Harlow, CM17 6JA
Received 12 Dec 2016Land to the east of Guilfords, Harlow Essex CM17 0HX
Received 2 Nov 2022Harlow Rail Depot,Station Approach,Harlow,CM20 2EL
Received 27 Jul 2001Land at Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Essex, CM2 7TE
Received 25 Jun 2018Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 31 Mar 2015Shalford Primary School,Church End,Shalford,Braintree,CM7 5EZ
Received 29 Jan 2004Roxwell Quarry Complex, Boyton Cross, Roxwell, Chelmsford, CM1 4LT
Received 2 Jan 2018Essex Highways, Ardleigh Highways Depot, Harwich Road, Ardleigh
Received 2 Jun 2016Highwood Quarry Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 20 Jul 2020Yard 1 & 2,Runwood Road,Charfleets Ind Est,Canvey,SS8 0PL
Received 22 Aug 2005Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 17 Oct 2022Hedingham School,Yeldham Road,Sible Hedingham,Halstead,CO9 3QH
Received 2 Sept 2009Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 31 Jan 2025Former Kores Nordic Site,West Road,Harlow,CM20 2AL
Received 19 Feb 2013Site east of the farm yard, Anaerobic Digestion plant, Marsh Farm, Vange by-Pass, VANGE, SS16 4QG
Received 8 Aug 2016Records 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