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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land at: Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 23 Aug 2023Rivenhall Airfield Coggeshall Road (A120) Braintree CO5 9DF
Received 11 Feb 2022Land at Courtauld Road, basildon, Essex
Received 16 Jan 2013Kings Road Primary School,Kings Road,Chelmsford,CM1 2BB
Received 9 Mar 2001Lufkins Farm,Thorrington Road,Great Bentley,Essex
Received 14 Mar 2013A127/A130 Fairglen Interchange
Received 27 Apr 2020Elsenham Quarry,Hall Rd,Elsenham,Bishops Stortford,CM22 6DJ
Received 7 May 2002John Bunyan County Inants School,Lancaster Way,Braintree,CM7 5UL
Received 29 Aug 1997Chelmer Valley Park and Ride, Pratt's Farm Lane, Little Waltham, Chelmsford
Received 19 Dec 2023Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 14 Oct 2013Land at Bradwell Airfield,Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 24 Feb 1995Between Strawbrook Hill and Great Notley Garden Village
Received 25 Aug 2000Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 16 Jun 2016Hogarth County Junior School, Riseway, Brentwood CM15 8BG
Received 29 Aug 2017Tanys Dell Primary School, Tanys Dell, Harlow, CM202LS
Received 14 Jan 2013Highwood Quarry, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 14 Nov 2019Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 27 Jun 2002Pitsea Hall Lane,Basildon
Received 17 Jan 2007Southview Special School (Previously Elm Hall CPS),Conrad Rd,Witham,CM8 2SD
Received 3 Jul 2002Land at Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex
Received 1 May 2014Ormiston Rivers Academy, Southminster Road, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, CM0 8QB
Received 10 Jun 2026Yeoman Aggregates, Parkeston Quay Depot, West Dock Road, Harwich
Received 20 Aug 2012Monkwick Junior School, School Road, Colchester, CO2 8NN
Received 10 Oct 2017Milwards Primary School and Nursery,Paringdon Road,Harlow,CM19 4QX
Received 6 Jul 2010Records 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