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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Birch Pit, Roundbush Corner, Maldon Road, Colchester, Layer Marney, CO5 9XE
Received 9 Feb 2024Blackleys Quarry, (Essex Show Ground),Great Leighs,Chelmsford,CM3 1QB
Received 8 Oct 2004Morses Lane Ind Est,Morses Lane Industrial Estate,Brightlingsea,CO7 0SD
Received 26 Nov 1999The King Edmund School,Vaughan Close,Rochford
Received 10 Nov 2003Land adjacent to A120, A120 North, Ardleigh, Colchester, Essex, CO7 7SL
Received 26 Mar 2013Coopersale & Theydon Garnon C E P School,Brickfield Road,Coopersale Common,Epping,CM16 7QX
Received 14 Feb 2012The King Edmund School,Vaughan Close,Rochford
Received 27 Feb 2006St Lukes Church School,Church Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0SU
Received 8 Mar 1999Shell Oil Distribution Site,Hedingham Road,Gosfield,Halstead,CO9 1PN
Received 30 Jun 2005Stapleford Abbotts Primary School,Stapleford Road,Stapleford Abbotts,Romford,RM4 1EJ
Received 6 Jan 2010Harlowbury Primary School Site, Gilden Way, Harlow
Received 13 Mar 2024High Ongar Primary School, The Street, High Ongar, Essex CM5 9NB
Received 9 May 2012Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 12 Apr 2023Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 11 Apr 2017Edith Borthwick School, Springwood Drive, Braintree, CM7 2YN
Received 28 Jul 2016Slaughter House at Blixes Farm, Ranks Green Road, Fairstead, Essex, CM3 2BH
Received 28 Jul 2015Waste Transfer Station, Winsford Way, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 5PD
Received 18 Dec 2024Elmstead Hall, Tye Road, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 29 Aug 2025Ramsden Hall School,Ramsden Heath,Billericay,CM11 1HN
Received 20 Sept 2006Dunmow St Marys Primary School, High Stile, Great Dunmow, CM6 1EB
Received 6 Sept 2019Kingswode Hoe School,Sussex Road,Lexden,Colchester,CO3 3QJ
Received 20 Jun 2002Colchester Quarry (Bellhouse), Warren Lane, Colchester, Essex
Received 5 Feb 2015High Ongar Primary School,The Street,High Ongar,Ongar,CM5 9NB
Received 19 Apr 2007Bluehouse Junior & Infant School, Leinster Road, Laindon, Basildon
Received Not publishedRecords 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