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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Tile Kiln Farm, Sible Hedingham, Halstead, Essex, CO9 1UP
Received 23 Feb 2024Land at Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester
Received 2 Oct 2024Former Heath School, Winstree Road, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 5QE
Received 7 Jun 2018Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 20 May 2020Childerditch Highways Depot, Hall Drive, Childerditch Industrial Park, Childerditch, Brentwood, Essex, CM13 3HD
Received 22 Nov 2012Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 21 Apr 2020Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 12 Oct 2012Mayflower Primary School,Harwich Centre and County Primary School,Main Road,Dovercourt,Harwich,CO12 4AJ
Received 4 Mar 2010Land At Martells's Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex CO7 7RU
Received 5 Jul 2023Land at Woolmers Farm,Beazley End Pit,Beazley End,Wethersfield,Braintree
Received 28 Jul 2008Manor Farm
Received 29 Mar 2006Wivenhoe Park, Colchester,Stanway Primary School,Villa Road,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0RH
Received 11 Mar 1996Blake House Farm,Blake House Farm,Stebbing Green,Dunmow
Received 16 Nov 1987Northwick Park Primary Academy, Third Avenue, Canvey Island, SS8 9SU
Received 29 Jan 2016Turner Village,Queen Boudica Primary School,Cowper Crescent,Colchester,CO4 5XT
Received 9 Jan 2008Frinton County Primary School,Witton Wood Road,Frinton-on-Sea,CO13 9LA
Received 15 May 2001Janet Duke Primary School, Markhams Chase, Laindon, Basildon, SS155LS
Received 17 Oct 2000Danbury Outdoors, Well Lane, Danbury, CHELMSFORD, CM3 4AB
Received 1 Jun 2017Rivenhall Primary School,Church Road,Rivenhall,Witham,CM8 3PQ
Received 12 Oct 2006Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 10 Dec 2020Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 16 Apr 2026Church Langley Primary School, Church Langley Way, Harlow, CM17 9TH
Received 26 Apr 2021Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 28 Feb 2018White City,DTEO,New Ranges,Shoeburyness,Southend-on-Sea,SS3 9SR
Received 23 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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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