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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Nazeing Quarry,Green Lane,Nazeing,Waltham Abbey,EN10 6TD
Received 21 Oct 1959Heard Environmental, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 12 Mar 2019Birch Quarry, Colchester, Essex
Received 21 Mar 2014Pitsea Landfill, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, SS16 4UH
Received 3 Jul 2014Nazeing County Primary School,Hyde Mead,Nazeing,Waltham Abbey,EN9 2HS
Received 17 Oct 2002Church Langley Primary School, Church Langley Way, Harlow, CM17 9TH
Received 26 Apr 2021Colchester County High School for Girls,Norman Way,Colchester,CO3 3US
Received 16 Aug 2000Birch Pit,Roundbush Corner,Birch Airfield,Birch,Colchester
Received 12 Jun 1992Land adjacent to A120, A120 North, Ardleigh, Colchester, Essex, CO7 7SL
Received 1 Aug 2013Roydon C P School,Harlow Road,Harlow,CM19 5HN
Received 27 Oct 2000Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 28 Mar 2024Great Baddow School,Duffield Road,Great Baddow,Chelmsford,CM2 9RZ
Received 11 Sept 2009Footbridge over Blackwater Rail Trail, CM8 3JQ
Received 16 Dec 2024Millhouse Infant School and Nursery School, Tavistock Road, Laindon, Basildon, Essex, SS15 5QF
Received 22 May 2014Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 24 Sept 2024Land north of Wick Lane, Ardleigh, CO7 7RE
Received 17 Feb 2026Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 2 Jul 2014St John's Green Primary School,St John's Green,Colchester,CO2 7HE
Received 5 Jan 2006Bellcroft, Witham,Bellcroft,Eastways Ind. Estate,Witham
Received 31 Mar 1998Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 13 Oct 1998Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 11 Mar 2015Highwoods Quarry, Stortford Road, Dunmow CM6 1SL
Received 7 Dec 2020Millhouse Junior, Infant and Nursery School,Tavistock Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS155QF
Received 10 Jul 2001Waste Transfer Station, Winsford Way, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM2 5AA
Received 2 Nov 2016Records 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