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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Sauls Bridge, B1018 crossing the River Brain,Maldon Road,Witham
Received 3 Feb 2004Wentworth County Primary School,Maldon,CM9 6JN
Received 22 Jan 1999Land at: Martells Quarry, Slough Lane Ardleigh, Essex CO7 7RU
Received 29 Sept 2020Holland Haven Sewage Treatment Works,Holland Haven WwTW,off Clacton Road,Holland Haven,Clacton-on-Sea
Received 26 Aug 1998Bellcroft,Eastways Ind. Estate,Witham
Received 26 Aug 2004Land at Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, WITHAM, CM8 3EX
Received 26 Jul 2016Crown Quarry, Old ipswich Road, Ardleigh, Colchester, CO7 7QR
Received 29 Nov 2016Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 15 Nov 2024Ferriers Farm,Bures,Sudbury
Received 10 Jun 1954Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 19 Jan 2024Hastingwood Depot, London Road, North Weald, Harlow, CM17 9LH
Received 24 Mar 2016Elsenham Quarry,Hall Rd,Elsenham,Bishops Stortford,CM22 6DJ
Received 5 Nov 2010Land at Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 8 Sept 2025Land to west of Colchester Skip Hire,Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 17 May 1999Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 22 Mar 2004Greensted St Andrews Nursery & Infants School,Hickory Avenue,Greenstead,Colchester,CO4 3QJ
Received 1 Oct 2009South Green Infant & Nursery School, Ganels Road, Billericay, CM112TG
Received 5 Jul 2013Land North Of Generals Lane Roundabout, Generals Lane, Boreham. Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HJ.
Received 5 Jun 2025Pitsea Landfill Site, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea , SS16 4UH
Received 5 Dec 2017Beckers Green C P School,Beckers Green Road,Braintree,CM7 3PR
Received 3 Dec 1998Avocet, Shoeburyness MOD, Bridge Road, Shoeburyness, SS3 9XD
Received 26 Nov 2024Wallasea Island,Rochford,SS4 2HD
Received 24 Aug 2012Bradwell Quarry, Coggeshall Road (A120T), Essex, Bradwell, United Kingdom
Received 26 Apr 2012Lakelands Primary School, Land off Wagtail Mews, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 8AL
Received 6 Jan 2020Records 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.

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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