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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Highwoods Youth Centre,Highwoods Approach,Colchester
Received 25 Jun 2009Castle View School,Foksville Road,Canvey,SS8 7AZ
Received 18 Jun 2008Elsenham Church of England Primary School, High Street. ELSENHAM, CM22 6DD
Received 30 Jan 2018Lincewood Primary School,Berry Lane,Langdon Hills,Basildon,SS166AZ
Received 26 Jul 2006Land to the South of Colchester Main Road (known as Sunnymead, Elmstead and Heath Farms), Nr Wivenhoe, Alresford, CO7 8DB
Received 25 Jun 2024Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 19 Mar 2021Templewood Estate,Templewood Depot,Stock Road,West Hanningfield,Chelmsford,CM2 8LP
Received 1 May 1998Henham & Ugley County Primary School,School Lane,Henham,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6BP
Received 28 Mar 2006Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 25 Jan 2017Land at Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex
Received 22 Jun 2015Matching Green Primary School,Little Laver Road,Matching Green,Harlow,CM17 0QB
Received 27 Mar 2008Batemans Farm, Great Leighs, Chelmsford, CM3 1PU
Received 15 Nov 2011Church Lane,Marks Tey,Colchester,CO6 1LN
Received 14 Aug 2013Bradwell Nuclear Power Station,Bradwell on Sea,Maldon,CM0 7HP
Received 6 Apr 2010St Johns CE Primary School,High Road,Buckhurst Hill,IG9 5RX
Received 31 Mar 1998Hillyfields Open Space adjacent to Pyrles Lane, Loughton
Received 8 Feb 2019Veermans Lodge,Thaxted Road,Saffron Walden,CB10 2UR
Received 21 Apr 2005Old Hall, Church Road, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3EJ
Received 7 Dec 2011Fairview CSS (CSS South Quadrant), Fairview Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 1PW
Received 12 Jul 2022Land at Bellhouse Farm South
Received 3 Dec 2025The Edith Borthwick School, Church Street, Bocking, Braintree, CM7 5LA
Received 14 May 2012Warley County Primary School, Chindits Lane, Warley, CM14 5LF
Received 18 Jul 2018Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 5 Nov 2024Records 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