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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 15 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Great Easton C of E (Aided) Primary School,Snow Hill,Great Easton,Dunmow,CM6 2DR
Received 7 Jun 2001Unit 3 Childerditch Industrial Estate,Childerditch Hall Drive,Brentwood,CM13 2HD
Received 3 Mar 2011King John School,Shipwrights Drive,Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 1RQ
Received 27 Dec 2001Land on the west side of Winsford Way, Chelmsford, CM2 5AA
Received 15 Oct 2012Brightside Primary School,Rosebay Avenue,Brightside,Billericay,CM12 0LE
Received 10 Nov 2009Ford End Cof E Primary School,Main Road,Ford End,Chelmsford,CM3 1LQ
Received 10 Jan 2001Hazelmere C.I & J.S,Hawthorn Avenue,Greenstead Estate,Colchester,CO4 3JP
Received 25 Jul 2003Land to the south of Colchester Main Road Nr Wivenhoe Alresford Essex CO7 8DB
Received 19 Jun 2024Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP
Received 26 Mar 2019West Hatch High School,West Hatch High School,High Road,Chigwell,IG7 5BT
Received 24 Mar 1992Eight Ash Green & Aldham County Primary School,Fiddlers Folly (off Wood Lane),Fordham Heath,Colchester,CO3 9UE
Received 10 Jun 2008Stanway Hall Quarry, East of Warren Lane, Colchester,Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 4 Jan 2006Millfields County Primary School, Bowes Road, Wivenhoe, CO7 9RD
Received 27 Apr 2017Wallasea Island,Rochford,SS4 2HD
Received 1 Dec 2008Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 7 Sept 2011Old Ipswich Road / Wick Lane,Ardleigh,Colchester
Received 4 Aug 2004Land North Of Generals Lane Roundabout, Generals Lane, Boreham. Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3HJ
Received 1 Jul 2025Stone St Lawrence Sewage Treatment Works,Main Road,St Lawrence,Maldon,CM0 7LY
Received 19 Mar 2004Colchester Quarry (Bellhouse), Warren Lane, Colchester, Essex
Received 5 Feb 2015Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 10 Feb 2012Ghyllgrove County Junior School, The Gore, Basildon, SS142BG
Received 23 Jan 2017Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, CO7 7EX
Received 19 Oct 2021Boreham Proving Ground,Bulls Lodge Quarry,Generals Lane,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3HR
Received 23 Apr 2012Lufkins Farm,Thorrington Road,Great Bentley,Colchester,CO7 7HN
Received 11 Feb 2008Records 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.

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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