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6,823 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 21 Jun 2007North Crescent County Primary School,North Crescent,Wickford.,SS12 9AP
Received 11 Dec 2008Lawford C of E Primary School,Long Road,Lawford,Manningtree,CO11 2EF
Received 8 Oct 2007Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, C03 0NN
Received 18 Mar 2020Former Glenwood School, Rushbottom Lane, Thundersley, BENFLEET, SS7 4LW
Received 14 Mar 2018Green Acres, Old Packards Lane, Wormingford, Colchester, CO6 3AH
Received 4 Sept 2019Highwood Quarry, Little Canfield, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 18 Sept 2023Bulls Lodge & Park Farm, Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 9 Mar 2006Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge roundabout on A131, Great Leighs Parish, to NE Chelmsford.
Received 15 May 2025North Primary School & Nursery, John Harper Street, Colchester, CO1 1RP
Received 28 Feb 2012Drakes Farm,Russell Green Reservoir,Drakes Farm,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3BD
Received 16 Dec 1994Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 27 Oct 2003Hylands School,Hatfield Grove,Chelmsford,CM1 3DF
Received 26 Jun 2006Land at North Benfleet Hall, North Benfleet, Wickford, SS12 9JR,Lovedown Farm,Lower Road,Hockley
Received 12 Aug 2002Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 24 Apr 2020Chalk Farm Quarry,Chalk Farm Quarry,Chalk Farm,Newport,Saffron Walden,CB11 3RX
Received 3 Mar 1998Hogarth County Junior School, Riseway, Brentwood, Essex, CM15 8BG
Received 28 Mar 2017Patterns Yard,Nayland Road,West Bergholt,Colchester,CO6 3DG
Received 12 Dec 2011Church Langley Primary School,Church Langley Way,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9TH
Received 13 Jun 2011Luxborough Lane 2,Luxborough Lane,Chigwell,IG7 6BJ
Received Not publishedLand at Rayne Quarry, Broadfield Farm, Dunmow Road, Rayne, Braintree, CM77 6SA
Received 27 Apr 2022Richard De Clare Primary School,Parsonage Street,Halstead,CO9 2JT
Received 22 Dec 2005The Deanes School,Daws Heath Road,Benfleet,SS7 2TD
Received 8 Feb 2010Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 24 Aug 2026Records 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