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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Woodham Walter C Of E Primary School, The Street, Woodham Walter, Maldon, CM9 6RF
Received 1 Jul 2015Monkwick County Infant School,School Road,Colchester,CO2 8NN
Received 14 Jan 1998Shire Hall and Associated buildings,Tindal Square,Chelmsford,CM1 1RA
Received 13 Sept 2000Lawford Mead Junior School,Lawford Mead Infants School & Nursery,Trent Road,Chelmsford
Received 29 Jan 2003Css South Quadrant, Fairview Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 1PW
Received 7 Oct 2022Whites Yard, Archers Fields Close, Basildon, SS13 1DN
Received 21 Mar 2016Centre Point,St John's Road,Epping,CM16 5DN
Received 16 Jul 2007Elsenham Quarry,Hall Rd,Elsenham,Bishops Stortford,CM22 6DJ
Received 17 Sept 2002Sandon Quarry, Molrams Lane, Sandon, CM2 7TE
Received 6 Mar 2019Sandon Pit,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 7 Jan 1998Richard De Clare County Primary School, Parsonage Street, Halstead, CO9 2JT
Received 15 Jan 2015Royal Oak Quarry, Woodham Mortimer, Essex
Received 21 Jan 2014Baynards County Primary School, Townsend Road, Tiptree Essex CO5 0ND
Received 12 Aug 2022Ryedene Primary and Nursery School, Ryedene, off Clover Way, Vange, Basildon
Received 8 Nov 2018Land south of A1060 (Salt’s Green), Chalk End, Roxwell, Chelmsford, CM1 4NJ
Received 12 Oct 2022Folly Mill Bridge,ECC Bridge no 378,Thaxted,CM6 2NW
Received 17 Jun 2008Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 15 May 2013Land at Coleman’s Farm , Little Braxted Lane, Witham
Received 8 Sept 2017Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received Not publishedSandon Quarry,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 19 May 1999Tile Kiln Quarry, (Foxborough Hills),Sible Hedingham,Halstead
Received 9 Aug 198832 Takely End, Basildon, Essex, SS16 5AZ
Received 22 Dec 2023Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, Braintree, CM77 8EP
Received 9 Apr 2015Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land east of Sheepcotes Lane
Received 9 Dec 2021Records 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