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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land North of Dry Street, Nethermayne, Basildon, Essex
Received 30 Apr 2024Land to the North of Mucking Hall Lane, Barling Magna, SS3 0NH
Received 15 Oct 2018Former St Lukes School,Oakview School,Whitehills Road,Loughton,IG10 1TS
Received 25 Sept 1997Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 26 Feb 2021Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land south of Cuthedge Lane.
Received 24 Feb 2025Tamar AD Facility, Sixth Avenue, Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, Essex, CO9 2HG
Received 17 Feb 2016Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 27 Mar 2015Maple River Industrial Estate,Unit 7,Maple River Industrial Estate,River Way,Harlow,Essex,CM20 2DP
Received 6 Dec 2012Brightlingsea County Infant & Junior School,Eastern Road,Brightlingsea,CO7 0HU
Received 5 May 2005The King John School, Shipwrights Drive, Thundersley, Benfleet, Essex, SS7 1RQ
Received 11 Mar 2014Great Bentley Primary School, Plough Road, Great Bentley Essex CO7 8LD
Received 31 Jul 2023Land adjacent to A120, A120 North, Ardleigh, Colchester, Essex, CO7 7SL
Received 9 Oct 2015Bradwell Pit,Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 26 Jan 1998Notley Green County Primary School,Blickling Road,Great Notley,Braintree,CM7 7LJ
Received 26 Jul 2006Melbourne Park Primary School,Melbourne Avenue,Chelmsford,CM1 2DX
Received 20 Sept 2006Abacus Primary School, Tresco Way, Wickford, SS129GJ
Received 8 Jan 2016Scripps Farm, Coggeshall, Braintree, Essex
Received 18 Apr 2016The Bishops C.E. & R.E. Primary School,Beardsley Drive,North Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6ZQ
Received 28 Sept 2004Beeleigh Mill, Abbey Turning, Maldon, CM9 6LJ
Received 4 May 2021Birch Airfield, Blind Lane, Birch, Essex, CO5 9XE
Received 20 Nov 2025Leverton House,Dark Lane,Great Warley,Brentwood,CM14 5LL
Received 19 Sept 2000Essex Regiment Way,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM3 3PR
Received 23 Dec 2002Compound "N",Templewood Depot,Stock Road,West Hanningfield,Chelmsford,CM2 8LP
Received 29 Apr 1999Chigborough & Draper's Fms; Saltcote & Rook Halls,Maldon,CM9 4QX
Received 18 May 1998Records 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