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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Church Langley Primary School, Harlow, CM17 9TH
Received 24 Jun 2016Part of former Severalls Hospital Site, Northern Approach Road (Phase 3), Colchester, Essex, CO4 5HG
Received 22 Jun 2015Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 24 Jun 2014Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 13 Oct 2023Land at Writtle College,Writtle,Chelmsford,CM1 3SB
Received 15 Oct 2003Folly Mill Bridge,ECC Bridge no 378,Thaxted,CM6 2NW
Received 17 Jun 2008Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 12 Dec 2011Burrsville I School, Craigfield Ave, Clacton-on-Sea,Burrsville Infant School,Craigfield Avenue,Clacton on Sea,CO15 4HR
Received 10 May 1996Ravenscroft Primary School, Nayland Drive, Clacton-on-sea, CO168TZ
Received 14 Dec 2011West Horndon Primary School,Thorndon Avenue,West Horndon,Brentwood,CM13 3TR
Received 22 Apr 2008Dunmow St Mary's Primary School, High Stile, Great Dunmow,St Marys Primary School,High Stile,Dunmow,CM6 1EB
Received 15 Oct 2004Colemans Farm Quarry, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, WITHAM, CM8 3EX
Received 16 Apr 2019Lodge Farm,Lodge Farm Lane,St Osyth,Clacton-0n-Sea,CO16 8SA
Received 11 Aug 2004Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren lane, Stanway Colchester C03 0NN
Received 31 Aug 2018Martells Quarry,Slough Lane Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 20 Mar 2026Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 26 Mar 2026Maple River Industrial Estate,Unit 7,Maple River Industrial Estate,River Way,Harlow,Essex,CM20 2DP
Received 6 Dec 2012The Limes, 93 New Century Road, Laindon, Basildon, SS156AQ
Received 12 Feb 2013Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 16 Sept 2024Beauchamps High School,Beauchamps Drive,Wickford,SS1 8LY
Received 7 Dec 2004St. Georges New Town Junior School, Canterbury Road, Colchester, CO2 7RU
Received 18 Mar 2014Collingwood Primary School,Collingwood Road,South Woodham Ferrers,Chelmsford,CM3 5YJ
Received 19 Apr 2010Shalford Primary School,Church End,Shalford,Braintree,CM7 5EZ
Received 20 Jun 2011Brakes Farm End, Birch,Roundbush Corner,Birch Airfield,Birch,Colchester
Received 21 Dec 1999Records 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