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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Bennett Canfield,Priors Green,Takeley,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6SR
Received 10 Oct 2011The Colne Community School, Church Road, Brightlingsea, CO7 0QL
Received 12 Mar 2021Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 17 Jan 2020Bellhouse Landfill, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 30 Nov 2011Bromfords School,Grange Avenue,Wickford,SS12 0LZ
Received 2 Oct 2008Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree CO5 9DF
Received 20 Jul 2017Pitsea Landfill Site, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea , SS16 4UH
Received 5 Dec 2017Land off St Luke's Way, Runwell, Wickford
Received 12 Jul 2021Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, Essex, CM77 8EP
Received 20 Feb 2026Copford CE (V/C) Primary School, School Road, Copford, C06 1BX
Received 4 Jul 2022Colchester Quarry (Bellhouse), Warren Lane, Colchester, Essex
Received 4 Apr 2017West Mersea,Uplands Road,West Mersea,Colchester
Received 27 Nov 1998Sandon Quarry, Molrams Lane, Sandon,Chelmsford, CM2 7TE
Received 2 Aug 201327 Vikings Way, Canvey Island
Received 5 Apr 1993Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 23 Sept 2008Former Eaton Aggregates Site,Site off New Parsonage Lane,Gt Saling,Braintree,CM7 5ER
Received 12 Sept 2006Broomgrove County Junior & Infant School, Broome Grove, Wivenhoe, Colchester, CO7 9QB
Received 28 Nov 2011Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 19 Dec 2007Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 2 Apr 2024Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 19 May 2020Mid Essex Magistrates Courts, Shire Hall, Tindal Square, Chelmsford, CM1 1RA
Received 17 Nov 2014Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 23 May 2022Land North Of Generals Lane Roundabout, Generals Lane, Boreham. Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HJ
Received 18 Nov 2024Lexden Springs, Former Heath School, Winstree Road, Colchester CO3 0PZ
Received 17 May 2019Records 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