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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Css South Quadrant, Fairview Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 1PW
Received 1 Sept 2023Burrsville Infant School,Craigfield Avenue,Clacton on Sea,CO15 4HR
Received 25 Jan 2007Pectel Court,Burnt Mills Road,Basildon,SS13 1DT
Received 19 Oct 2009Trinity Road Primary School, Trinity Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 6HS
Received 1 Apr 2026Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge roundabout on A131, Great Leighs Parish, to NE Chelmsford
Received 13 Jan 2025Nicholls Field, Harlow, CM18 6DY
Received 24 Oct 2017Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 13 Jun 2022Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 11 Oct 2012Wickham Bishops Library, School Road, Wickham Bishops Essex CM8 3NU
Received 21 Sept 2023Sewage Works, Beeches Road, Rawreth, Essex, SS11 8TJ
Received 16 Oct 2015Land at Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 23 Mar 2021James Hornsby High School,Leinster Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS155NX
Received 25 Jan 2000Norton Field Farm, Norton Lane, High Ongar, Ongar, CM4 0LN
Received 1 Nov 2021Shenfield Library, Hutton Road, Shenfield, CM15 8NJ
Received 24 Jan 2023Old Gravel Workings-South of King George V Memorial Field & East of Burnham-on Crouch,Smyatts Farm,Burnham Road,Southminster,CM0 7JA
Received 20 Jun 1997Land at St Osyth Quarry, Colchester Rd, St Osyth,Martins & Wellwick Fms,St Osyth,Clacton-on-Sea,CO16 8HN
Received 23 Nov 2000Highfields Multipurpose Resource Centre,Moulsham Street,Chelmsford,CM2 9XJ
Received 17 Nov 1998Unknown Site Address
Received 9 Feb 2010Land at Bellhouse Farm South
Received 30 Jan 2025Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 13 Jul 2026Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, Braintree, CM778DL
Received 8 Jun 2012Roxwell Quarry,Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 25 Sept 2006South Woodham Ferrers Civic Amenity Site,Civic Amenity & Recycling Centre,Ferrers Rd,South Woodham Ferrers,Chelmsford
Received 22 Apr 1998Land adjacent A120, Colchester, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7SL
Received 1 May 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.

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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