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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Civic Amenity and Recycling Centre, Dovercourt,West End Landfill,Hall Lane,Dovercourt,Harwich
Received 4 Aug 2005Wivenhoe Quarry,Alresford Road,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9JY
Received 25 Apr 2012Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree CO5 9DF
Received 30 Jan 2024Wheatcroft,1 Wellesley Road,Clacton on Sea,CO15 1NJ
Received 7 Apr 1999Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne.
Received 20 Feb 2025Stanway Primary School, Colchester, CO3 0RH
Received 1 Jun 2017White Notley CE Primary School,Vicarage Avenue,White Notley,Witham,CM8 1SA
Received 29 Jan 1998Lodge Farm,Old Church Road,East Hanningfield,Chelmsford
Received 28 Jun 2006St Peters C of E Primary School,Myneer Park,Coggeshall,Colchester,CO6 1YU
Received 29 Jan 2009Wallasea Island, Creeksea Ferry Road, SS4 2HD
Received 16 Mar 2015Wivenhoe Quarry, Land south of Colchester Main Road Alresford, Essex, C07 8DB
Received 13 Mar 2024Roach Vale Primary School,Roach Vale,Colchester,CO4 3YN
Received 10 Dec 2001Scripps Farm,Coggeshall,Colchester
Received 15 Jan 2007Cory Environmental Ltd, Bellhouse Landfill, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 16 Aug 2012Bulls Lodge Quarry (Park Farm), Belsteads Farm Lane, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, CM3 3PX
Received 1 Apr 2025Wallasea Island,Rochford,SS4 2HD
Received 18 Feb 2013Ingatestone Sewage Treatment Works,Stock Lane,Doddinghurst,Ingatestone,CM4 9QN
Received 3 Nov 2003Purdeys Industrial Estate,Purdeys Way,Rochford
Received 1 Aug 2005Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 25 Nov 1998ECC Store, Rear of Inde Plastik UK Ltd,Hanbury Road,Chelmsford,CM1 3SZ
Received 26 Jul 2006Crown Quarry, Old Ipswich Road, Ardleigh, Colchester, CO7 8QR
Received 19 Jan 2017Wivenhoe Quarry,Wivenhoe Quarry,Alresford Road,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9JY
Received 1 Sept 1998Tudor House, 47A London Road, Stanway, CO3 0NR
Received 9 Nov 2020Rivenhall Airfield Coggeshall Road (A120) Braintree CO5 9DF
Received 10 Aug 2021Records 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.

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