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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Stonecroft,Leywood Close,Braintree,CM7 3NP
Received 26 Mar 1999Great Sampford County Primary School, Finchingfield Road, Great Sampford, Essex,Gt Sampford Primary School,Finchingfield Road,Saffron Walden,CB10 2RL
Received 16 Jan 1998Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 23 Mar 2016Wentworth County Primary School,Maldon,CM9 6JN
Received 12 May 2010Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 9 Dec 2019Land situated off Walnut Tree Way
Received 7 Dec 2022Bellhouse Landfill, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 23 Sept 2013Crown Quarry (Ardleigh Reservoir Extension)
Received 9 Mar 2017Haverhill Recycling Facility, Plot 7, Phoenix Road, Haverhill, Haverhill Business Park, CB9 7AE
Received 7 Apr 2022GREAT BRADFORDS COUNTY JUNIOR SCHOOL, MARLBOROUGH RD, GT BRADFORDS EST, BRAINTREE,Great Bradfords Infant School,Marlborough Road,Braintree,CM7 9LW
Received 20 Feb 1998Ballards Gore Golf Club,Gore Road,Rochford
Received 17 Feb 2010A13/A130 Sadlers Farm Junction,London Road,Basildon
Received 11 Jul 2007Notley Green County Primary School,Blickling Road,Great Notley,Braintree,CM7 7LJ
Received 30 Apr 2001St Andrew’s CE Primary School, Mandeville Road, Marks Tey, Colchester, Essex, CO6 1HL
Received 7 Oct 2021Tudor House, 47A London Road, Stanway, CO3 0NR
Received 20 Aug 2020Woodlands School,Takeley End,Kingswood,Basildon,SS165BA
Received 14 Mar 2012Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 10 Dec 2020Land at Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 8 Jun 2018Land at Bellhouse Farm South
Received 3 Dec 2025Monkwick Infant School, School Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8NN
Received 5 May 2015West Hatch High School, High Road, CHIGWELL, IG7 5BT
Received 13 Mar 2018Ongar Landfill Site,Mill Lane,Ongar,CM5 9RG
Received 8 May 2003Building 10, Spring Farm, Colchester Road, Wix, CO11 2RN
Received 7 Mar 2018Barnes Farm County Junior School, Henniker Gate, Chelmsford, CM2 6QH
Received 9 Nov 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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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