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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Old Heath County Primary School,Old Heath Road,Colchester,CO2 8DD
Received 25 Oct 2001Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Essex, Wivenhoe, CO7 9JU
Received 2 Jul 2019Heard Environmental, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 5 Feb 2019Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 19 Oct 2020Ardleigh Highway Depot, Glebe Corner, Harwich Road, Ardleigh, CO7 7LA
Received 18 Feb 2016Land at Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Essex, CM2 7TE
Received 10 Dec 2019Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School, Queens Road, Brentwood, CM14 4EX
Received 9 Nov 2021Stisted STW, Water Lane, Stisted, Essex
Received 3 Sept 2012Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 9 Jul 2012Waste Transfer Station West Road Harlow CM20 2AL
Received 11 Sept 2017St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 23 Nov 2012Springfield Highways Depot, Colchester Road, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 5PU
Received 29 Nov 2012S R C Aggregates, Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, CM6 1SL
Received 28 May 2014Richard De Clare Primary School,Parsonage Street,Halstead,CO9 2JT
Received 29 Apr 2003New Broxbourne Road,Nazeing,Waltham Abbey,EN10 6RW
Received 13 Jan 1955Peter Kirk Centre, St John Road, Stansted, CM24 8JP
Received 19 Feb 2020St Andrews CofE Primary School, School Green Lane, North Weald, Epping, Essex, CM16 6EH
Received 7 Jan 2016Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 7 Aug 2026Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 31 Jul 2025Columbus School and College,Patching Hall Lane,Chelmsford,CM1 4BX
Received 4 Feb 1998Glenwood School Rushbottom Lane Thundersley Benfleet Essex SS7 4LW
Received 22 Jan 2026Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 25 Mar 2022The Plume School, Fambridge Road, Maldon, Essex, CM9 6AB
Received 24 Feb 2025Beaulieu Park Education Campus, Beaulieu, Chelmsford
Received 22 Mar 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