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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Stanway,Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 23 May 2002Land At Archers Fields, Pitsea, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1DH
Received 27 May 2026Stansted to Braintree A120
Received 29 Jan 2004Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 9 Jan 2017Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 27 Oct 2020Alderney Community Enterprise,,The Heybridge Centre,The Street,Heybridge,Maldon,CM9 4NB
Received 6 Jul 2007The Henry Moore Primary School,Kiln Lane,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9LW
Received 3 Jul 2003Dannatts Quarry, Hatfield Peverel,Barnards Farm Pit,Hatfield Peverel,Chelmsford
Received 13 Feb 2004Lakelands Primary School Land off Wagtail Mews Stanway Colchester CO3 8AL
Received 1 May 2020Loughton Rethink,2 Victoria Road,Buckhurst Hill,IG9 5ES
Received 12 Dec 1997Norman Primary School,Remercie Road,Mistley,Manningtree,CO11 1LS
Received 9 Apr 2002Land at Middlewick Ranges,Mersea Road,Colchester
Received 31 Jul 2006Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 23 Jul 2003Birch Airfield, Blind Lane, Birch, Essex, CO5 9XE
Received 21 Mar 2025Marsh Farm Country Park,Marsh Farm Road,South Woodham Ferrers,Chelmsford,CM3 5WP
Received 8 Nov 2007Langham County Primary School,School Road,Langham,Colchester,CO4 5BB
Received 5 Jun 2004Highwood Quarry Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 15 Apr 2020Codham Hall Farm, Codham Hall Lane, Great Warley, Brentwood, Essex
Received 22 Nov 2012Unit B, 39 Robjohns Rd, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 3AG
Received 17 Jul 2015Kent View Recreation Ground, east of Kent View Road and north of Paslowes, Basildon
Received 12 Dec 2019Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 30 Aug 2022Lincewood Primary School,Berry Lane,Langdon Hills,Basildon,SS166AZ
Received 15 Sept 2009Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, CO7 9JU
Received 29 Sept 2015Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 8 Apr 2024Records 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.

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