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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Maldon Community Resource Unit,Chapter House,Carmelite Way,Maldon,CM9 5FX
Received 17 Mar 2008Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 9 Apr 2024Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 22 May 2023Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 8 Aug 2003Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received Not publishedHonywood School,Westfield Drive,Coggeshall,Colchester,CO6 1PZ
Received 3 Oct 2005A120 Stansted to Braintree scheme
Received 3 Sept 2001Daisy House & adjacent land, Haven Road, Colchester, CO2 8HT
Received 4 Oct 2024Chase Lane Primary School & Nursery,Chase Lane Primary School,Chase Lane,Dovercourt,Harwich,CO12 4NB
Received 6 Jun 2005Former St Nicholas CofE Primary School,Church Road,Rawreth,Wickford,SS118SH
Received 9 Aug 2005Benfleet Scrap Company Ltd, Caxton House, Harvey Road, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1QJ
Received 2 Feb 2012The Colne Community School, Church Road, Brightlingsea, CO7 0QL
Received 19 May 2021Stanway Primary School, Colchester, CO3 0RH
Received 1 Jun 2017Gosbecks C P School,Owen Ward Close,Shrub End,Colchester,CO2 9DG
Received 12 Dec 2008Leverton Hall, Dark Lane, Great Warley, Brentwood, CM14 5LL
Received 24 Mar 2014St Michaels County Primary School, Camulodunum Way, Colchester, CO2 9RA
Received 10 Jul 2018Bradwell Power Station, Downhall Beach, Bradwell-on-sea, Essex, CM0 7HP
Received 8 Apr 2025Park Farm South,School Road,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7EX
Received 9 Feb 2006Willows Primary School,Church Road,Basildon,SS142EX
Received 6 Sept 2000Brightlingsea Junior School, Eastern Road, Brightlingsea, Colchester, CO7 0HU
Received 20 Feb 2012Burrsville Infant School,Craigfield Avenue,Clacton on Sea,CO15 4HR
Received 13 Jul 1998Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 26 Nov 2020Buttsbury Bridge,Stock Lane / Ingatestone Road,Ingatestone,CM4
Received 20 Nov 2008S R C Aggregates, Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, CM6 1SL
Received 18 Feb 2014Records 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.

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Read planning drawings, floor plans, elevations and sections. Use labelled diagrams, a drawing comparison table and revision checks to understand a proposal.

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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