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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 11 Jun 2002Bellhouse Landfill Site 2, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 18 Sept 2015Land south of A1060 (Salt’s Green), Chalk End, Roxwell, Chelmsford, CM1 4NJ
Received 12 Oct 2022Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 1 Sept 2006Clavering Primary School, Stortford Road, Clavering, CB11 4PE
Received 9 Apr 2018Widdington,Hollow Road,Widdington,Saffron Walden,CB113SL
Received 3 Jul 1997Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received Not publishedBirch Pit, Roundbush Corner, Maldon Road, Colchester, Layer Marney, CO5 9XE
Received 19 Sept 2023Harwich Community Primary School Playing Field,Barrack Lane,Harwich,CO123NS
Received 8 Aug 2001The Heybridge Centre, The Street,The Heybridge Centre,The Street,Heybridge,Maldon,CM9 4NB
Received 27 Jul 2005Newport Free Grammar School,Burywater Lane,Saffron Walden,CB11 3TR
Received 3 Aug 2006Land at St Cleres Hall Pit, Main Road, Danbury, CM3 4AS
Received 10 Jul 2019Oakwood 'Pack-it-in' Centre,Stephenson Road West,Clacton-on-Sea,CO15 4TL
Received 7 Oct 2005Land to the rear of the Ambulance Station,Chelmsford Road,Dunmow,CM6 1LW
Received 21 Jul 2006Oaklands County Infant School, Vicarage Road, Chelmsford, CM2 9PH
Received 8 Dec 2014Galleywood Infant School, Barnard Road, Galleywood, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 8RR
Received 22 Oct 2025MONTGOMERY INFANT SCHOOL & NURSERY, BARONSWOOD WAY, COLCHESTER,Montgomery CIS,Baronswood Way,Colchester,CO2 9QG
Received 6 Feb 2003Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, Essex, CM77 8EP
Received 21 Jul 2026The Works,South Strand,Lawford,Manningtree,CO11 1UP
Received 16 Sept 2003Noak Bridge Primary School,Coppice Lane,Basildon,SS154JS
Received 31 Dec 2001Mayflower School,Stock Road,Billericay,CM12 0RT
Received 30 Dec 1998Land at Rayne Quarry, Dunmow Road, Braintree, Essex, Rayne
Received 20 Dec 2023Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 5 Mar 2020Notley Road Pumping Station, St Johns Avenue, Braintree, CM7 1HJ
Received 18 Dec 2015Records 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.

Understanding planning · 13 min read
Read planning drawings, floor plans, elevations and sections. Use labelled diagrams, a drawing comparison table and revision checks to understand a proposal.

Property research · 13 min read
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