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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Oakwood Yard, Purdeys Way (Cottis Yard),Purdeys Industrial Estate,Purdeys Way,Rochford
Received 15 Feb 2001St. Georges Infant School, Barrington Road, Colchester, CO2 7RW
Received 1 Nov 2011Ardleigh Highway Depot, Glebe Corner, Harwich Road, Ardleigh, Essex
Received 18 Dec 2015Vacant Land, Circular Road East, Colchester
Received 2 Jun 2014Springfield Primary School,Forsythia Close,Chelmsford,CM1 6XW
Received 14 Jun 2002Plume Academy, Mill Road Campus, Mill Road, CM9 5DU
Received 11 Mar 2025Land at Greenacres, Packards Lane, Wormingford
Received 14 Feb 2018Cobbs Farm , Maldon Road Goldhanger, Maldon CM9 8BQ
Received 10 Mar 2023High Beech C of E Primary School,Mott Street,Loughton,IG10 4AP
Received 21 Jan 2004Castle View School,Foksville Road,Canvey,SS8 7AZ
Received 3 Aug 2004Land to the east of Brickfields Way, Purdeys Industrial Estate, Rochford, Essex
Received 5 Nov 2013Perryfields Primary School, Chelmsford, CM1 7PP
Received 27 Jan 2016Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 19 Mar 2024Colchester Quarry,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 24 Jul 2013Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge Roundabout on A131, Great & Little Leighs Parish, to the north east of Chelmsford.
Received 17 Jun 2022Arnolds Farm Business Centre, 221 Ongar Road, Lambourne, Romford, Essex, RM4 1RH
Received 19 Jul 2024Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Essex, CM12 7TE
Received 30 May 2018Holy Cross Junior School, Quendon Drive, Waltham Abbey,Waltham Holy Cross Junior School,Quendon Drive,Monkswood Avenue,Waltham Abbey,EN9 1LG
Received 11 Jul 2004Arnolds Building,County Hall Site,Market Road,Chelmsford,CM1 1QH
Received 27 Sept 2005Henham & Ugley County Primary School,School Lane,Henham,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6BP
Received 23 Oct 2002Friars Grove Infant School,Upland Drive,Colchester,CO4 0PZ
Received 18 Dec 2003James Waste Management, Purdeys Industrial Estate, Brickfields Way, Rochford, SS4 1NB
Received 10 Jan 2020Land at Bellhouse Farm South
Received 30 Jan 2025Great Bradford Infant School,Great Bradfords Infant School,Marlborough Road,Braintree,CM7 9LW
Received 6 Oct 2005Records 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 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