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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Scripps Farm,Coggeshall,Colchester
Received 19 Mar 2002Heard Environmental, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 7 May 2019Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project Creeksea Ferry Road Wallasea Island SS4 2HD
Received 21 Nov 2019Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 14 May 2009Gt Bentley Primary School,Plough Road,Gt Bentley,Colchester,CO7 8LD
Received 5 Jun 2001Witham WRC, Perry Road, Witham
Received 11 Sept 2015Elsenham Power Plant, Hall Road, Elsenham, Essex, CM22 6DJ,Elsenham Quarry,Hall Rd,Elsenham,Bishops Stortford,CM22 6DJ
Received 4 Aug 2010Little Waltham C Of E Primary School, The Street, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, CM3 3NY
Received 5 Dec 2016Land to the North of Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex
Received 15 Jan 2014Avocet, Shoeburyness MOD, Bridge Road, Shoeburyness, SS3 9XD
Received 28 Mar 2025Land at St Cleres Hall Farm,St Clere’s Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 27 Jun 1997The Walter Boyce Centre, Warley Hill, Great Warley, CM13 3AP
Received 11 Jul 2019Oyster Haven Business Park, Haven Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8HT
Received 5 Jun 2023Barnards Pit,Barnards Farm Pit,Hatfield Peverel,Chelmsford
Received 1 Sept 1995Canvey Island Infants School, LONG ROAD, CANVEY ISLAND SS8 0JG
Received 2 Jun 2020Coggesall Road, Bradwell, Near Braintree,Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 21 Mar 2011Rayleigh County Primary School,Love Lane,Rayleigh
Received 29 May 2002Ramsden Hall School (Langham site),School Road,Langham,Colchester,C04 5PA
Received 6 Aug 2007Oakwood Park Primary School, Former Sugarbeet Factory,Flitch Green Primary School,Tanton Road,Little Dunmow,Dunmow,CM6 3GG
Received 19 Dec 2006Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 28 Aug 2012Tiptree Basketworks and Woodyard
Received 24 Oct 2000Hatfield Peverel Infant School,Church Road,Hatfield Peverel,Chelmsford,CM3 2RP
Received 21 May 2002Stapleford Abbotts Cp School, Stapleford Road, Stapleford Abbotts, Romford, RM4 1EJ
Received 27 Jan 2014Former Kores Nordic Site,West Road,Harlow,CM20 2AL
Received 2 Aug 2013Records 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