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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Ryedene Primary and Nursery School, Ryedene, off Clover Way, Vange, Basildon
Received 11 Dec 2018Buckhurst Hill Community Primary School,Lower Queens Road,Buckhurst Hill,IG9 6DS
Received 28 Jun 2010Danbury Outdoors, Well Lane, Danbury, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 4AB
Received 15 Feb 2024Doddinghurst County Junior School,Church Lane,Doddinghurst,Brentwood,CM15 ONJ
Received 21 Nov 2003Luxborough Lane 2,Luxborough Lane,Chigwell,IG7 6BJ
Received Not publishedBradwell Quarry, Coggeshall Road (A120T), Essex, Bradwell, United Kingdom
Received 2 Apr 2013Pond Hall,Pond Hall,Bradfield Road,Wix,Manningtree
Received 13 Apr 2000Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land south of Cuthedge Lane.
Received 31 Jan 2020Braintree Freeport Village, Charter Way, Braintree, CM7 78YH
Received 17 Apr 2012Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester
Received 2 Dec 2024Colchester North County Primary School,John Harper Street,Colchester
Received 15 Apr 2003Monkwick County Junior School, School Road, Colchester CO2 8NN,Monkwick County Infant School,School Road,Colchester,CO2 8NN
Received 2 Jun 2003Bellhouse Farm, Church Lane, Stanway, CO3 8LS
Received 28 Sept 2021Harlow Mill Aggregate Depot,Harlow Rail Depot,Station Approach,Harlow,CM20 2EL
Received 27 Jun 2000Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 5 Jan 2021Glenwood School,Rushbottom Lane,New Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 4LW
Received 24 Sept 2007Bellhouse Landfill Site,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 20 Nov 1996Templars County Primary School,Cressing Road,Witham,CM8 2NJ
Received 20 Feb 1998Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Essex, CB11 3SL
Received 5 Jul 2023Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 4 Mar 2022Land at Russell Green, Boreham Road, Chelmsford
Received 1 Feb 2024Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 31 Mar 2025Stanley Wilson Lodge,Four Acres,Saffron Walden,CB11 3JD
Received 8 May 2002Lakelands Primary School, Land off Wagtail Mews, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 8AL
Received 14 Oct 2019Records 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