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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land at Martells's Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex CO7 7RU
Received 15 May 2019Stanway Primary School, Villa Road, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0RH
Received 24 Jan 2013Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 27 Jan 2021Scripps Farm,Scripps Farm,Coggeshall,Colchester
Received 28 Oct 1994Perryfields Junior School,Perryfields County Junior and Infant School,Lawn Lane,Chelmsford,CM1 7PP
Received 22 May 2007Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 10 Oct 2024Staples Road Primary School, Staples Road, Loughton, IG101HR
Received 3 Dec 2014Richard De Clare Primary School,Parsonage Street,Halstead,CO9 2JT
Received 25 Jan 2011Frogs Hall Farm,Bambers Green,Takeley,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6PE
Received 30 Jun 2010Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 21 Apr 2020Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 3 Jun 2025Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 21 Apr 2023Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, Essex, CM77 8EP
Received 7 Jul 2026Scripps Farm,Coggeshall,Colchester
Received 23 Jul 2007Sible Hedingham WRC, Hulls Mill Lane, Sible Hedingham, CO9 3AL
Received 17 Jun 2021Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 7 Mar 2016Curry Farm,Curry Farm,Mill End,Bradwell-on-Sea,Maldon,CM0 7HL
Received 5 Aug 1997Netherhall Pit,Netherhall Farm,Low Hill,Roydon,Harlow,CM19 5JP
Received 23 Feb 1998Oak View School, Whitehills Road, Loughton, IG10 1TS
Received 12 Jun 2018Land North Of Generals Lane Roundabout, Generals Lane, Boreham. Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HJ
Received 6 Mar 2025Land south of A1060 (Salt’s Green), Chalk End, Roxwell, Chelmsford, CM1 4NJ
Received 26 Nov 2024Pitsea Junior School,High Road,Pitsea,Basildon,SS133AB
Received 29 Nov 2002Silver End Primary School,School Road,Silver End,Witham
Received 26 Oct 2004Brickhouse Farm Community Centre, Poulton Close, Maldon, CM9 6NG
Received 13 Nov 2019Records 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