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6,824 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land south of Cuthedge Lane.
Received 30 Jul 2024Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 6 Jan 2014Unit 3, Childerditch Hall Drive, Little Warley, Brentwood, CM13 3HD
Received 3 May 2012Fairview,Magpie Lane,Little Warley,Brentwood,CM13 3DT
Received 3 Aug 2004The White Bridge County Infant & Junior School, Greensted Road, Loughton, IG103DR
Received 13 May 2013Area of Open Space north of Church End Lane, Runwell, SS11 7DS
Received 18 Jun 2025Land to the south of Colchester Main Road, Alresford, Nr Colchester, C07 8DB
Received 1 Mar 2022Braintree Freeport Village, Charter Way, Braintree, CM7 78YH
Received 17 Apr 2012Royal Oak Quarry, Woodham Mortimer, Danbury, Essex, CM3 4RJ
Received 17 Feb 2017Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 23 Mar 2021Mountnessing C of E Primary School, 279 Roman Road, Mountnessing, Essex CM15 0UH
Received 5 Aug 2020Roxwell Quarry Complex, Boyton Cross, Roxwell, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 4LT
Received 13 Sept 2018The Colne Community School, Church Road, Brightlingsea, Essex, CO7 0QL
Received 29 Jan 2025Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Dec 2020Roscommon Way,Canvey
Received 21 May 2008Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 20 May 2015Noak Bridge Primary School,Coppice Lane,Basildon,SS154JS
Received 28 Sept 2009Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 23 Jun 2016St Mary's School,Reeve Road,Foresthall Park,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM24 8SJ
Received 27 Nov 2012St Marys Church of England Primary School, St Johns Road, STANSTED, CM24 8JP
Received 21 Apr 2017Ingatestone Civic Amenity & Recycling Centre,Civic Amenity & Recycling point,Roman Road,Ingatestone,CM4 9HG
Received 8 Mar 1996Alresford County Primary School,Ford Lane,Alresford,Colchester,CO7 8AU
Received 26 Oct 2006Rivenhall IWMF, Coggeshall Road, Essex, Bradwell, CM77 8EF
Received 29 May 2024Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 21 Dec 1994Records 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.

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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