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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 19 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
The area of public open space directly west of Williams Drive and directly north of Rana Drive, Braintree, Essex
Received 15 Jan 2019Jaywick Water Recycling Centre, Off Jaywick Lane
Received 10 Nov 2017Clacton Library 96 Station Road Clacton On Sea Essex CO15 1SF
Received 17 Sept 2026Burnt Mill Comprehensive School,First Avenue,Harlow,CM20 2NR
Received 12 Mar 2010Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 17 Feb 2020Staples Road Primary School, Staples Road, Loughton, IG101HR
Received 3 Dec 2014Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 16 Aug 2022Barnes Farm Infant School, Henniker Gate, Chelmsford,Barnes Farm Infant & Junior Schools,Henniker Gate,Chelmer Village,Chelmsford,CM2 6QH
Received 21 Jul 2003Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 12 May 2025East Mersea Youth Camp, Rewsalls Lane, East Mersea, Essex, CO5 8SX
Received 30 Jun 2025Land at Wallasea Island, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 16 May 2014Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 12 Dec 2011The William de Ferrers School,Trinity Square,South Woodham Ferrers,Chelmsford,CM3 5JU
Received 29 Jul 2008The Colne Community School,Church Road,Brightlingsea,CO7 0QL
Received 2 Mar 2007Green Recycling Ltd, Quayside Industrial Estate, Maldon, CM9 5FA
Received 15 Mar 2013Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 23 Oct 2018Former Goods Yard, Brook Street, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1SU
Received 25 Jun 2013North Place, Edinburgh Way, Harlow, Essex, CM20 2SL
Received 12 Dec 2013Land forming part of New Rickstones Academy, Conrad Road, Rivenhall, CM8 2SD
Received 13 Jul 2022Veolia E S Uk Ltd, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Basildon, SS164UH
Received 22 Nov 20116 Armstrong Road, Benfleet, SS7 4PW
Received 9 Nov 2018Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 2 Aug 2022Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 16 Sept 2003Sandon Pit,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 5 Jan 1984Records 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