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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Hillyfields Open Space adjacent to Pyrles Lane, Loughton
Received 24 Aug 2018Loamylands Farm,Loamy Hill Road,Tolleshunt Major,Maldon,CM9 8LS
Received 17 Apr 2009Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 6 Mar 2012Wivenhoe Integrated Support,Philip Road,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9BA
Received 8 Mar 2004Messing Cum Inworth School, School Road, Messing Colchester,Messing Cum Inworth Community Primary School,School Road,Messing,Colchester,CO5 9TH
Received 21 Jan 2004Plots G4, G5, G6 and G7 Purdeys Way, Purdeys Industrial Estate, Rochford,Purdeys Industrial Estate,Purdeys Way,Rochford
Received 29 Sept 2011Land North of Dry Street, Nethermayne, Basildon, Essex
Received 20 Jun 2023Chelmsford WRC, Brookend Road South, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 6NZ
Received 18 Jan 2017Leverton County J & I School, Honey Lane Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 3BE
Received 4 Sept 2020The Rickstones,Southview Special School (Previously Elm Hall CPS),Conrad Rd,Witham,CM8 2SD
Received 29 Sept 2000Springfield Primary School, Forsythia Close, Chelmsford, CM1 6XW
Received 19 Dec 2011Cedar Hall School, Hart Road, Thundersley, Benfleet, Essex SS7 3UQ
Received 16 Sept 2022Kingswode Hoe School,Sussex Road,Lexden,Colchester,CO3 3QJ
Received 8 Oct 2009Land at Greenacres, Packards Lane, Wormingford
Received 5 Sept 2020Also CM8 1DJ,Howbridge CE Junior School (also CM8 1DJ),Howbridge Road,Witham,CM8 1BZ
Received 1 Dec 2000Cedar Hall School, Hart Road, Thundersley, Benfleet Essex SS7 3UQ
Received 30 Nov 2022Land at Andrewes Way, Wolsey Park, Rayleigh
Received 28 Jan 2026Dobbs Weir Road,Netherhall Farm,Low Hill,Roydon,Harlow,CM19 5JP
Received 26 Jan 1994Former Heath School, Winstree Road, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 5QE
Received 7 Jun 2018Friars Grove Junior School,Friars Grove Infant School,Upland Drive,Colchester,CO4 0PZ
Received 4 Feb 2005Sewage Works, Pinchpools Road, Manuden, Essex, CM23 1EA
Received 11 Mar 2024Notley Green County Primary School,Blickling Road,Great Notley,Braintree,CM7 7LJ
Received 31 Mar 1998Edward Francis Infants & Junior Schools,Uplands Park Road,Rayleigh
Received 15 May 2006Down Hall Primary School,Brooklyn Drive,Rayleigh,SS6 9LW
Received 20 Jan 2006Records 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