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.
6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 5 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 12 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Wick Farm (now part of Crown Quarry 14 421 37),Wick Lane,Ardleigh,Colchester,CO7 7RA
Received 5 Mar 1991Waterman Primary School,The Boulevard,Rochford,SS4 1QF
Received 22 Dec 2000Basildon Register Office,St Martins Square,Basildon,SS141WW
Received 6 Jul 2001Avocet, Shoeburyness MOD, Bridge Road, Shoeburyness, SS3 9XD
Received 29 Nov 2024Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, WIVENHOE, CO7 9JU
Received 8 Dec 2017Buckhurst Hill Community Primary School,Lower Queens Road,Buckhurst Hill,IG9 6DS
Received 6 Feb 1998Wivenhoe Quarry,Alresford Road,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9JY
Received 26 Apr 2004Cranham Hall Caravan Site,Cranham Lane,Little Waltham,Chelmsford,CM3 3NB
Received 16 May 2007Harlowbury Primary School site, Gilden Way, Harlow
Received 26 Nov 2020Home Farm, Hall Road, Gaunts End, Elsenham, Essex, CM22 6DR
Received 10 Oct 2024The William de Ferrers School,Trinity Square,South Woodham Ferrers,Chelmsford,CM3 5JU
Received 7 Apr 2003Crown Quarry (Ardleigh Reservoir Extension), Wick Farm, Old Ipswich Road, Tendring, Colchester, CO7 7QR
Received 27 Mar 2019Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 7 Aug 2026Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 5 Aug 2021Leverton County Gm Junior And Infant School Honey Lane, Waltham Abbey EN9 3BE
Received 13 Aug 2020Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project, Creeksea Ferry Road, Wallasea Island, SS4 2HD.
Received 16 Jul 2018The Tyrrells School,Tavistock Road,Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6JN
Received 29 Jan 2007Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 19 Nov 2021Unit 11 Ozdil House, River Way, Harlow, CM20 2DR
Received 27 Mar 2020Halstead Highways Depot, Fenn Road, Halstead, Essex, CO9 2HG
Received 10 Dec 2015Cattawade Bridge carries the A137 over the River Stour between Brantham and Lawford,Manningtree
Received 4 Mar 1998Arnolds Farm, 221 Ongar Road, Lambourne, Romford, RM4 1RH
Received 12 Dec 2023Avocet Shoeburyness MOD Shoeburyness Bridge Road SS3 9XD
Received 16 Dec 2025Sandon Quarry, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 22 Sept 2015Records 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
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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