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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 14 Sept 2020Former Severalls Hospital Site, Northern Approach Road (Phase 3), Colchester, Essex, CO4 5HG
Received 24 Nov 2014Former Goods Yard, Brook Street, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1SU
Received 3 Aug 2012Rivenhall Primary School,Church Road,Rivenhall,Witham,CM8 3PQ
Received 29 Jan 1998Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 27 Aug 2025Elsenham Sand Quarry,Elsenham Quarry,Hall Rd,Elsenham,Bishops Stortford,CM22 6DJ
Received 28 Jan 1994Monkwick Infant School, School Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8NN
Received 19 Dec 2014The Hermitage,Shenfield Road,Brentwood,CM15 8AG
Received 1 Sept 2003Land to the south of Colchester Main Road, Alresford, Nr Colchester, C07 8DB
Received 1 Mar 2022Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 2 Oct 2018Martell's Quarry,Ardleigh,Colchester,CO7 7SP
Received 26 Apr 2004Felmore Primary School, Davenants, Basildon, SS13 1QX
Received 13 Jun 2018Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road (B1256), Little Easton, Gt Dunmow, Essex
Received 18 Dec 2012Land to the south of Birch Quarry, Maldon Road, Colchester, CO5 9XE
Received 8 May 2024Wivenhoe Quarry,Alresford Road,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9JY
Received 22 Jan 2001The Colne Community School, Church Road, Brightlingsea, CO7 0QL
Received 12 Mar 2021Sandon Quarry, Molrams Lane, Sandon, Essex, CM2 7TE
Received 19 Sept 2013Noak Bridge Primary School,Coppice Lane,Basildon,SS154JS
Received 20 Mar 200931 Battleswick, Basildon, Essex, SS14 3LA
Received 13 May 2025St George's Infants School,Barrington Rd,Colchester,CO2 7RW
Received 27 Mar 2002Vacant Land, Circular Road East, Colchester
Received 30 May 2014Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 2 Aug 2012Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP
Received 17 May 2018St John Ambulance Building1 Victoria Road, Walton-on the Naze, Essex CO14 8BU,Walton-on-the-Naze,CO14 8BY
Received 11 Apr 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
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