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.
6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 5 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 14 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
The Plume School, Fambridge Road, Maldon, Essex, CM9 6AB
Received 28 Mar 2025Hallsford Bridge Ind Est.,Unit 5-7,Hallsford Bridge Ind Est,Stondon Rd,Ongar,CM5 9RB
Received 4 Jul 1995Eight Ash Green & Aldham County Primary School,Fiddlers Folly (off Wood Lane),Fordham Heath,Colchester,CO3 9UE
Received 1 May 2009Elsenham Quarry,Hall Rd,Elsenham,Bishops Stortford,CM22 6DJ
Received 22 Apr 2008Birch Airfield,Blind Lane,Birch,Colchester,CO5 9HH
Received 14 Mar 2007Tanglewood Nursery, Melbourne Avenue, Chelmsford, CM1 2DX
Received 12 Jun 2015The Downs Cp School, The Hides, Harlow, CM203RB
Received 16 Sept 2014Wells Park School, School Lane, Chigwell, Essex, IG7 6NN
Received 28 Sept 2026Two Village School, between Mayes Lane, Neals Field & Lodge Road, Ramsey,Two Village Primary School,Mayes Lane,Ramsey,Harwich,CO12 5HP
Received 20 Oct 2003Highlands Farm, Southend Road, Rettendon Common, Chelmsford, CM3 8EB
Received 24 Oct 2012Roach Vale Primary School,Roach Vale,Colchester,CO4 3YN
Received 1 Nov 2010Land at Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 17 Dec 2019Baynards Primary School,Townsend Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0ND
Received 7 Jul 2009Templars Junior School,Templars County Primary School,Cressing Road,Witham,CM8 2NJ
Received 30 Apr 2003Manor Farm,Great Baddow,Chelmsford,CM2 7RT
Received 19 Apr 2006Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex. CO7 7EX
Received 24 Jul 2017Former Alderman Blaxhill Secondary School site, Paxman Avenue, Colchester, Essex CO2 9DQ
Received 13 Oct 2017Cedar Hall School, Hart Road, Thundersley, Benfleet Essex SS7 3UQ
Received 14 Sept 2022Harlow Integrated Support Centre (Former Commonside Special School),Commonside Road,Harlow,CM18 7EZ
Received 15 Feb 2011Clacton County High School, Walton Road, Clacton On Sea, CO15 6DZ
Received 20 Aug 2021East Mersea Youth Camp, Rewsalls Lane, East Mersea, CO5 8SX
Received 8 Mar 2019Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, Essex, CM77 8EP
Received 6 Feb 2023Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree, Essex, CO5 9DF
Received 4 Aug 201523 Bocking End,Braintree
Received 6 Nov 1997Records 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