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.
6,823 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 5 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 11 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Colchester Sewage Treatment Works, Haven Road, The Hythe, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8HT
Received 10 Jan 2014Land at Bellhouse Farm South
Received 3 Dec 2025Moulsham Junior School, Princes Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 9DG
Received 6 Feb 2023Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 14 Sept 2020Highways Depot,Kings Road,Charfleets Industrial Est,Canvey
Received 10 Mar 2006Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 27 Mar 2024Chalk Farm, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, CB113RX
Received 27 Feb 2012Colchester Quarry,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 24 Jul 2000Chelmsford Sewage Works,Brook End Road,Chelmsford
Received 20 Dec 2011Wivenhoe Quarry,Alresford Road,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9JY
Received 13 Sept 2010Old Heath County Primary School,Old Heath Road,Colchester,CO2 8DD
Received 27 Jun 2002Manor Farm, Gt Baddow,Manor Farm,Great Baddow,Chelmsford,CM2 7RT
Received 4 Aug 2000Dr Walkers CE Primary School,Walker Avenue,Fyfield,Ongar,CM5 0RG
Received 26 Jul 2006Ardleigh St Mary's CofE Primary School,Colchester Road,Ardleigh,Colchester
Received 23 Oct 2002Harlowbury Primary School site, Gilden Way, Harlow
Received 6 Jan 2020Barnes Farm Infant & Junior Schools,Henniker Gate,Chelmer Village,Chelmsford,CM2 6QH
Received 21 May 2004Land at St Cleres Hall Pit, Main Road, Danbury, CM3 4AS
Received 10 Jul 2019Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 31 Mar 2011Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 12 Feb 2025Latchmore Lakes, Lt Hallingbury
Received 26 Jun 1997St Andrews School,Church Road,Bulmer,Sudbury,CO10 7EH
Received 29 Apr 2003Broomfield Place,189 Main Road,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM1 7EQ
Received 27 Mar 2006Yard 1, Charfleets Road, Canvey Island, SS8 0PQ
Received 15 Nov 2018Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, CM0 7DZ
Received 22 May 2013Records 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