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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Sandon Quarry, Molrams Lane, Sandon, CM2 7TE
Received 8 Mar 2024Old Heath County Primary School,Old Heath Road,Colchester,CO2 8DD
Received 28 Mar 2008Northwick Park Junior School,Third Avenue,Canvey
Received 23 Feb 2006Burnt Mill Comprehensive School,First Avenue,Harlow,CM20 2NR
Received 6 Dec 2002Waste Transfer Station, Winsford Way, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM2 5AA
Received 1 May 2020Fen Farm,Fen Chase,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7HA
Received 3 Apr 2001Braiswick Primary School, Apprentice Drive Colchester CO4 5QJ
Received 23 Jun 2023Castledon School,Bromfords Drive,Wickford,SS12 0PW
Received 29 Nov 2006Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 12 Jul 2023Colbayns High School,Pathfields Road,Clacton on Sea,CO15 3JL
Received 28 Feb 2005Bellhouse and Abbotstone Landfill Site
Received 29 Mar 1994Land at the Warren,The Warren,Woodham Walter,Maldon,CM9 6SF
Received 27 Jun 1997Pitsea Treatment & Landfill Site,Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 14 Mar 1994Land adjacent to Glenwood Special School, Rushbottom Lane, Thundersley, Benfleet, SS7 4LW
Received 15 Mar 2016Auto Spares Station Yard, Great Bentley Road, Thorrington, CO7 8HT
Received 16 Jul 2015Land at Russell Green, Boreham Road, Chelmsford
Received 1 Feb 2024Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 27 Mar 2015Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Saffron Walden, CB11 3SL
Received 25 Jun 2014Ingatestone Library, High Street, Ingatestone, CM4 9EU
Received 29 Apr 2026Land at Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 21 May 2021Land north of Wick Lane, Ardleigh, CO7 7RE
Received 17 Feb 2026Millhouse County Junior School, Tavistock Road, Basildon, Essex, SS15 5QF
Received 18 Mar 2014Saffron Walden WwTW,New Pond Lane,Saffron Walden,CB10 1BX
Received 11 Apr 2008Lexden Springs, Former Heath School, Winstree Road, Colchester CO3 0PZ
Received 17 May 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