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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Prettygate Junior School,Plume Avenue,Colchester,CO3 4PH
Received 28 May 1999Newport Highways Depot,Bury Water Lane,Newport,Saffron Walden
Received 2 Dec 2002Chaston Business Centre,112 Oxford Road,Clacton-on-Sea,CO15 3TH
Received 17 Feb 2009Land at Colemans Farm, Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 23 Jun 2016Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 3 Jun 2025Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 28 Aug 2025Tiptree Basketworks & Woodyard,Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 24 Sept 2001Curry Farm,Mill End,Bradwell-on-Sea,Maldon,CM0 7HL
Received 26 Mar 2007Braintree Waste Transfer Station, Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, CM77 8DL
Received 15 Feb 202224-26 Childerditch Industrial Estate,Childerditch Hall Drive,Brentwood,CM13 2HD
Received 13 Jun 2011Boswells School,Burnham Road,Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6LY
Received 29 Jun 2006Brightlingsea County Infant & Junior School,Eastern Road,Brightlingsea,CO7 0HU
Received 16 Jan 2006Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, Essex, CM77 8EP
Received 17 May 2022Fen Farm, Elmstead Market, Colchester, Essex
Received 23 Mar 2015West Hatch High School, High Road, CHIGWELL, IG7 5BT
Received 13 Mar 2018Brightlingsea Quarry,Moverons Lane,Brightlingsea,CO7 0SB
Received 25 Mar 1997COMMUNITY ROOM/YOUTH CENTRE,The Greensward College,Greensward Lane,Hockley,SS5 5HG
Received 12 Oct 2006Railway Land,North Place,Edinburgh Way,Temple Fields,Harlow
Received 22 Feb 2007School Buildings,Debden C of E Primary School,High Street,Debden,Saffron Walden,CB11 3LE
Received 2 Aug 2007Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 18 Jan 2021Land at Russell Green, Boreham Road, Chelmsford, CM3 3BB
Received 28 Jul 2021Monkwick Junior School, School Road, Colchester, CO2 8NN
Received 19 Sept 2018Land to the South of Colchester Main Road (known as Sunnymead, Elmstead and Heath Farms), Nr Wivenhoe, Alresford, CO7 8DB
Received 25 Jun 2024West Hatch High School, High Road, Chidwell, IG7 5BT
Received 18 Sept 2017Records 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