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.
6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 5 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 14 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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 at Greenacres, Packards Lane, Wormingford
Received 5 Sept 2020Coopers Beach,Coopers Beach Hoilday Park,Church Lane,East Mersea,Colchester,CO5 8TN
Received 11 Oct 2010Land at ECC waste transfer station, Winsford Way, Chelmsford, CM2 5AA
Received 16 Jun 2016First Floor, Newport House,Newport House,Molrams Lane,Great Baddow,Chelmsford,CM2 7TL
Received 8 Aug 2000Clacton County High School, Walton Road Clacton On Sea, CO15 6DZ
Received 24 Aug 2021Crumps Farm,Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 22 Jul 1985St Andrews CofE Primary School, School Green Lane, North Weald, Epping, Essex, CM16 6EH
Received 19 Oct 2015Land to the south of Colchester Main Road, Alresford, Nr Colchester, C07 8DB
Received 4 Oct 2022Ongar Landfill, Mill Lane, High Ongar, CM5 9RG
Received 22 Feb 2021Former Hales Depot,Hoblongs Industrial Estate,Dunmow
Received 11 Jan 2006Colchester Quarry, Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 22 Oct 2012Adj Sandon Hall, Sandon Quarry,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 8 Mar 2000Oyster Haven Business Park, Haven Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8HT
Received 28 Feb 2024Glenwood School,Rushbottom Lane,New Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 4LW
Received 23 Jun 2005Frobisher Primary School, Frobisher Drive, Jaywick, Clacton-on-sea, CO152QH
Received 3 Jun 20166 Armstrong Road, Benfleet, SS7 4PW
Received 9 Nov 2018Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 2 Jun 2021Land at: Colemans Farm Quarry, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 1 Apr 2021Hillhouse Primary School, Waltham Abbey, EN9 3EL
Received 22 May 2014Magnox Electric Plc, Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell-on-sea, Southminster, CM0 7HP
Received 28 Jan 2013Oakfield Primary School,Scott Drive,Wickford,SS12 9PW
Received 8 Jan 2002Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 16 Jan 2013Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 15 Jan 2010Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 8 Nov 2022Records 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