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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
St. James School, Guildford Road, Colchester, CO1 2RA
Received 5 Jul 2013Essex County Showground,Blackleys Quarry, (Essex Show Ground),Great Leighs,Chelmsford,CM3 1QB
Received 21 Jun 2006Maple River Industrial Estate,Unit 7,Maple River Industrial Estate,River Way,Harlow,Essex,CM20 2DP
Received 12 Mar 2013Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 24 Apr 2020Runwell Cp School, Canewdon Gardens, Wickford, SS117BJ
Received 24 Feb 2016Fairhouse Community Junior & Infant School, Long Riding, Basildon SS141QP
Received Not publishedAsheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 31 Mar 2015Birch Airfield, Blind Lane, Birch, Essex, CO5 9XE
Received 21 Mar 2025Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 20 Sept 2011Notley High School, Notley Road, Braintree, CM7 1WY
Received 26 Mar 2013Kirby Primary School,Halstead Road,Kirby Cross,Frinton on Sea,CO13 0LW
Received 14 May 1998Shorefields School,114 Holland Rd,Clacton on Sea,CO15 6HF
Received 1 Mar 2007Part of former Severalls Hospital Site, Northern Approach Road (Phase 3), Colchester, Essex, CO4 5HG
Received 28 Jul 2015Debden C Of E Primary School, High Street, Debden, Saffron Walden, CB113LE
Received 14 Sept 2012Billericay Library & Register Office,Burstead Lodge,High Street,Billericay,CM12 9AB
Received 24 Jan 2008James Hornsby High School,Leinster Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS155NX
Received 31 Aug 2010Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 10 Jul 2015Old Hall and Generals Farms,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM2 6GF
Received 1 Feb 2013Fawbert & Barnards Undl Primary School,Fawbert & Barnards (UNDL) PS,London Rd,Old Harlow,Harlow,CM17 0DA
Received 20 Aug 2002Fairfields Farm,Fordham Road,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AQ
Received 10 Aug 2010Rivenhall Primary School,Church Road,Rivenhall,Witham,CM8 3PQ
Received 2 Nov 2010Vacant Land, Circular Road East, Colchester
Received 17 Jun 2013Chipping Hill Primary School, Owers Road, Witham, CM8 1FR
Received 16 Sept 2014Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 3 Oct 2019Records 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
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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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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