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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 14 Mar 2025land adj to Goldsands Rd, Southminister,Southminster Hall,Goldsands Road,Southminster,CM0 7JR
Received 2 Feb 2001Coopersale & Theydon Garnon C E P School,Brickfield Road,Coopersale Common,Epping,CM16 7QX
Received 2 Feb 2012Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 7 May 2021Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 9 May 2025Holt Farm County Junior School,Ashingdon Rd,Rochford,SS4 1RS
Received 21 Dec 2001Frogs Hall Farm,Bambers Green,Takeley,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6PE
Received 23 Jan 2012Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 13 Nov 2006Chase Lane Primary School,Chase Lane,Dovercourt,Harwich,CO12 4NB
Received 7 Apr 2005Hastingwood Highways Depot, London Road, Hastingwood, Harlow, Essex, CM17 9LH
Received 29 Nov 2012Lawford C Of E Primary School, Long Road, Lawford, CO11 2EF
Received 29 Jun 2020Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 18 Mar 2022Sandon,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received Not publishedLand at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 14 May 2024Columbus School and College,Patching Hall Lane,Chelmsford,CM1 4BX
Received 15 Jun 2010Stebbing Primary School, High Street, Stebbing, Essex, CM6 3SW
Received 14 May 2015Land at Wallasea Island, Rochford, SS4 2HD
Received 1 May 2015Heathlands C of E Primary School,New Church Road,West Bergholt,Colchester,CO6 3JF
Received 7 Sept 2001Cordons Farm Depot, Long Green, Cressing, Braintree, CM778DL
Received 13 Dec 2012Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 18 Apr 2024Springfield Highways Depot, Colchester Road, Springfield, Chelmsford, CM2 5PU
Received 9 Jan 2017St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 19 Aug 2004Land at: Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 29 Jun 2023Land at Writtle College,Writtle,Chelmsford,CM1 3SB
Received 21 Dec 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 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