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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Warley County Primary School, Chindits Lane, Warley, CM14 5LF
Received 8 Aug 2019Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 28 Feb 2018Chelmsford Sewage Treatment Works, Brook End Road South, Springfield, Chelmsford Essex CM2 6NZ
Received 21 Oct 2022Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 4 Apr 2013Curry Farm Pit, Mill End, Bradwell-on-sea, Essex CM0 7HL
Received 6 Nov 2023Royal Oak Quarry, Woodham Mortimer, Essex
Received 4 Dec 2013Basildon Adult Community College, Briscoe Centre, Felmores End, Pitsea, Basildon,Briscoe County Junior & Infant School,Felmores End,Pitsea,Basildon
Received 22 Aug 2003The Plume School, Fambridge Road, Maldon, Essex, CM9 6AB
Received 24 Feb 2025Tarmac Ltd, Bellhouse Pit, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 1 Aug 2012Helena Romanes School, Parsonage Downs, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 2AU
Received 14 Mar 2023Wivenhoe Quarry,Alresford Road,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9JY
Received 26 Apr 2004Indaver Rivenhall IWMF, Coggeshall Road, Essex, Bradwell, CM77 8EF
Received 12 Feb 2024St Helena School,Sheepen Road,Colchester,CO3 3LE
Received 9 Sept 2002Ghyllgrove County Junior School, The Gore, Basildon, Essex, SS14 2BG
Received 23 Jul 2018Unit 12 Rawreth Lane,Unit 12,Rawreth Industrial Estate,Rawreth Lane,Rayleigh,SS6 9RL
Received 15 Jun 1998Bellhouse Landfill Site,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 8 Sept 1997Adjacent to Freeport Railway Station,Charter Way,Freeport,Braintree
Received 5 Mar 2012Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 14 Mar 2013Birch Airfield, Blind Lane, Birch, Essex, CO5 9XE
Received 8 Dec 2022Epping Upland Primary School,Carter's Lane,Epping Green,Epping,CM16 6AJ
Received 18 Oct 2011Colchester Quarry,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 15 Mar 2000Bradwell Pit,Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 7 Jan 1998CSS South Quadrant, Fairview Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 1PW
Received 13 Jun 2022The Downs Cp School, The Hides, Harlow, CM203RB
Received 16 Sept 2014Records 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.

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