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6,823 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 15 Nov 2024Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 27 Mar 2015Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 12 Sept 2006Woodhouse Lane, Kelvedon, CO5 9DF
Received 2 Mar 2023Bentfield County Primary School,Rainsford Rd,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM24 8DX
Received 17 Sept 1998Little Waltham C Of E Primary School, The Street, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, CM3 3NY
Received 5 Dec 2016Land at Andrewes Way, Wolsey Park, Rayleigh
Received 3 Nov 2025Land at Wallasea Island, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 14 Aug 2014Generals Farm, Boreham,Old Hall and Generals Farms,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM2 6GF
Received 15 Feb 1999Woodlands Comprehensive School, Takely End, Basildon, SS165BA
Received 2 Aug 2013St Peter's RC Primary School,Coxes Farm Road,Billericay,CM11 2UB
Received 29 Mar 2001St Johns CE Primary School,High Road,Buckhurst Hill,IG9 5RX
Received 18 May 2006Cressing Primary School, Braintree Road, Cressing, Essex, CM77 8JE
Received 29 Aug 2025Roding Valley High School, Alderton Hill, Loughton, IG10 3JA
Received 6 Sept 2017Land at Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 28 Feb 2020Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 23 Sept 2021Janet Duke Primary School,Markhams Chase,Laindon,Basildon,SS155LS
Received 26 Apr 2011Wivenhoe Quarry,Wivenhoe Quarry,Alresford Road,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9JY
Received 27 Jan 2000Northwick Park Junior School,Third Avenue,Canvey
Received 6 May 2003Glenwood School,Rushbottom Lane,New Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 4LW
Received 15 Feb 2006Asheldham Quarry, Tillingham Road, Asheldham, Southminster, CM0 7DZ
Received 29 Aug 2025Land at Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 24 Sept 2018Kendall Primary School, Recreation Road, Colchester, CO1 2HH
Received 22 Jul 2020Harlow Bus Lane,East of First Avenue/Mandela Avenue at Junction with B183 Gilden Way/A414 London Road to Junction with Howard Way
Received 18 Oct 2007Records 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