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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Glenwood School, Rushbottom Lane, Thundersley, Benfleet, Essex, SS7 4LW
Received 21 May 2025Coggeshall Road, Bradwell, Near Braintree,Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 21 Mar 2011Bradfield County Primary School,Heath Rd,Bradfield,Manningtree,CO11 2UZ
Received 24 Oct 2002Ferriers Farm Pit, Ferriers Lane, Bures Hamlet, CO8 5DL
Received 27 Sept 2019Sewage Works, Jenkins Lane, Great Hallingbury, CM22 7QL
Received 16 Feb 2016Wilson Marriage Centre.,Barrack Street,Colchester,CO1 2LR
Received 12 Mar 1999Rayne WwTW,Rayne Hall Lane,Rayne,Braintree
Received 24 Jul 2002White Court County Primary School,Ennerdale Avenue,London Road,Braintree,CM777UE
Received 17 Aug 2010The Colne Community School, Church Road, Brightlingsea, CO7 0QL
Received 30 Jul 2021Woodhouse Lane, Kelvedon CO5 9DF
Received 5 May 2022Kelvedon Library,Maldon Road,Kelvedon,Colchester,CO9 5BA
Received 20 Mar 2003See ESS/11/00/COL,Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 10 Oct 2001Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 4 Apr 2013Pitsea Landfill, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Essex, SS16 4UH
Received 25 Jul 2024Land At Archers Fields Pitsea Basildon Essex SS13 1DH
Received 14 Aug 2026Glenwood School, Rushbottom Lane, Thundersley Benfleet SS7 4LW
Received 31 May 2019Glebe Infant and Junior School,Creswick Avenue,Rayleigh,SS6 9HG
Received 3 Nov 1997Lubbins Park County Primary School,May Avenue,Canvey,SS8 7HF
Received 6 Feb 1998Land at Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 16 Feb 2024Gosbecks C P School,Owen Ward Close,Shrub End,Colchester,CO2 9DG
Received 19 Dec 2004Prettygate Junior School,Plume Avenue,Colchester,CO3 4PH
Received 18 May 2001Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 16 Sept 2024Kingsmoor Academy, Ployters Road, Harlow, CM18 7PS
Received 15 Mar 2017Cold Norton County Primary School, St Stephens Road, COLD NORTON, CM3 6JE
Received 28 Feb 2017Records 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