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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Cherry Tree Primary School,Cherry Tree Primary School,Church Road,Basildon,SS164AG
Received 16 Sept 2002Land south of A1060 (Salt’s Green), Chalk End, Roxwell, Chelmsford, CM1 4NJ
Received 12 Oct 2022Notley High School, Notley Road, Braintree. CM7 1WY,Notley High School,Notley Road,Braintree,CM7 1HL
Received 6 May 2005Land to the east of Bradfields Farm, Burnt Mills Road, Basildon
Received 22 Feb 2018Langford Agricultural Reservoir,Langford Hall Estate,Witham Road,Langford,Maldon,CM9 4ST
Received 25 Oct 1995Land to the south of Colchester Main Road, Alresford, Colchester, Wivenhoe, C07 8DB
Received 13 Apr 2022Land between Broomfield Hospital/Nash Drive and Goulton Road, Broomfield, Chelmsford
Received 11 Aug 2021Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, Colchester, Essex, CO7 9JU
Received 28 Jan 2013Kendall Primary School, Recreation Road, Colchester, Essex. CO1 2HH
Received 24 May 2018Land West of Jaywick Sewage Treatment Works,Land west of Jaywick WwTW,off Jaywick Lane,Jaywick,Clacton-on-Sea
Received 26 Aug 1998Biogen Anaerobic Digestion Facility, Fifth Avenue, Bluebridge Industrial Estate, Halstead, CO9 2SZ
Received 11 Jan 2023Martell's Quarry, Park Farm, Ardleigh
Received 7 Aug 2012Greenacres, Packards Lane, Wormingford, Essex, CO6 3AH
Received 20 Dec 2019Short Bridge,Bridge Street,Coggeshall,Colchester
Received 15 Jul 2011Royal Oak Quarry,Chelmsford Rd,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM9 6TJ
Received 2 Jul 2012Ugley Landfill Site, Cambridge Road, Ugley, CM22 6HT
Received 1 Dec 2021Vacant Land, Circular Road East, Colchester
Received 17 Jun 2013Wimbish County Primary School,Maple Lane,Tye Green,Wimbish,Saffron Walden,CB10 2XE
Received 25 Oct 2007Chigwell Primary School,50 High Road,Chigwell,IG7 6DW
Received 3 Sept 2008Land to the south of Colchester Main Road, Alresford, Nr Colchester, C07 8DB
Received 4 Oct 2022Land at Coleman’s Farm Quarry, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 4 May 2018Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 14 Sept 2020Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 12 Nov 2007Appleford Farm CM8 3EZ (Colemans Farm Quarry Processing Plant Site Relocation)
Received 28 Apr 2023Records 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