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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 13 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Hillhouse Primary School, Waltham Abbey, EN9 3EL
Received 19 Mar 2014Blackleys Quarry, (Essex Show Ground),Great Leighs,Chelmsford,CM3 1QB
Received 4 Nov 2008Sandon Quarry, Sandon, Howe Green, Essex, CM2 7TE
Received 9 Dec 2015Tiptree Basketworks & Woodyard,Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 13 Oct 2010Writtle Junior School, Margaretting Road, Writtle Chelmsford CM1 3HG
Received 3 Jun 2020Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 14 Oct 2021Mile End Training Centre,Colchester NE ISS Centre,Turner Road,Colchester,CO4 5LB
Received 9 Jun 2009Land at Rivenhall Airfield Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 18 May 2023Epping Junior School,23 St Johns Road,Epping,CM16 5DN
Received 9 May 2007Formerly Homestead School,Ramsden Hall School (Langham site),School Road,Langham,Colchester,C04 5PA
Received 18 Mar 2010Ugley Landfill Site,Cambridge Road,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM22 6HT
Received 12 May 2009Langham County Primary School,School Road,Langham,Colchester,CO4 5BB
Received 1 Sept 2004Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 19 May 2026Mersea Island School,Bardfield Road,West Mersea,Colchester,CO5 8QX
Received 16 Jun 2008Wentworth County Primary School,Maldon,CM9 6JN
Received 29 Mar 2005Land at: Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 25 Mar 2021Alresford County Primary School,Ford Lane,Alresford,Colchester,CO7 8AU
Received 14 Aug 2000Auto Spares Station Yard, Great Bentley Road, Thorrington, CO7 8HT
Received 12 Oct 2016Rowhedge Pits,Rowhedge,Colchester
Received 17 Oct 1950Land adjacent to A120, A120 North, Ardleigh, Colchester, Essex, CO7 7SL
Received 24 Jul 2014St. Nicholas C Of E Primary School, South Street, Tillingham, Southminster, CM0 7TJ
Received 9 Dec 2011Market Field School,School Road,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7ET
Received 23 May 2001Baddow Hall C I School, New Rd, Great Baddow,Baddow Hall County Junior & Infants School,New Rd,Great Baddow,Chelmsford,CM2 7QZ
Received 15 Jul 2004Lincewood Primary School,Berry Lane,Langdon Hills,Basildon,SS166AZ
Received 13 Nov 1998Records 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