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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
'Lakelands Primary School', Land off Wagtail Mews, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 8AL
Received 31 May 2019Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 23 Mar 2016Clacton County High School Walton Road Clacton On Sea CO15 6DZ
Received 8 Jul 2021Fingringhoe Quarry, Ballast Quay, Fingringhoe, Colchester.
Received 31 May 2023Riverside Primary School,Ferry Road,Hullbridge,Hockley,SS5 6ND
Received 9 Oct 2003Laindon Park C P S,Church Hill,Laindon,Basildon,SS155SE
Received 22 Jun 2006Lodge Farm, St Oysth, Essex
Received 27 Jun 2017Notley Green PS. Blickling Road,Notley Green County Primary School,Blickling Road,Great Notley,Braintree,CM7 7LJ
Received 19 Jul 2002The Joyce Frankland Academy, Cambridge Road, NEWPORT, CB11 3TR
Received 29 Jan 2018Land between Courtauld Road (Burnt Mills Indus Estate) and A127 (Southend Arterial Road) and land immediately to the north of the A127, Basildon.,Basildon
Received 10 Jan 2006Former St Lukes Special School,Oakview School,Whitehills Road,Loughton,IG10 1TS
Received 29 Apr 1999Ravenscroft County Primary School,Nayland Drive,Clacton on Sea,CO16 8TZ
Received 15 Jan 1998Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 6 Nov 2023Elmstead Hall, Tye Road, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 29 Aug 2025Cedar Hall School, Hart Road, Thundersley, Benfleet, Essex, SS7 3UQ
Received 6 Jun 2022Land at Russell Green, Boreham Road, Chelmsford
Received 13 Sept 2023Royal Oak Quarry, Chelmsford Road, Woodham Mortimer, CM9 6TJ
Received 10 Mar 2015Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 8 Dec 2017Land at Courtauld Road, basildon, Essex
Received 20 Oct 2014Montgomerie Primary School, Rushbottom Lane, Thundersley, Benfleet, Essex, SS7 4LW
Received 23 Nov 2022Market Field School, School Road, Elmstead, Colchester, CO7 7ET
Received 1 May 2014Cherry Orchard Lane Devenishes,58-60 Hambro Hill, (Site 2),Rayleigh
Received 24 Oct 2000Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 27 Jan 2021Ramsden Hall School (Langham site),School Road,Langham,Colchester,C04 5PA
Received 16 Nov 2007Records 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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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