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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road Wivenhoe, Essex CO7 9JU
Received 13 May 2022St. Georges New Town Junior School, Canterbury Road, Colchester, CO2 7RU
Received 18 Mar 2014The Downs Cp School, The Hides, Harlow, CM203RB
Received 16 Sept 2014Little Easton Airfield,Little Easton Airfield,Little Easton,Dunmow,CM6 2BB
Received 14 Nov 2000Latton Green County Primary School,Riddings Lane,Latton Green,Harlow,CM18 7HT
Received 10 Nov 1997Harlow Mill Railway Station Sidings, Harlow Mill, Harlow,Harlow Rail Depot,Station Approach,Harlow,CM20 2EL
Received 3 Nov 1999Building 10, Spring Farm, Colchester Road, Wix, CO11 2RN
Received 8 Feb 2018Monkwick Infant School, School Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8NN
Received 5 May 2015Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Essex, CB11 3SL
Received 5 Jul 2023Land to the North of Hovefields Court, Hovefields Avenue, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1EB
Received 29 Apr 2016Stisted Primary School,The Street,Stisted,Braintree,CM7 8AN
Received 24 Apr 2007Gosbecks C P School,Owen Ward Close,Shrub End,Colchester,CO2 9DG
Received 18 Nov 1998De La Salle Rc School, Ghyllgrove, Basildon, SS142LA
Received 24 Sept 2012Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, CO7 7EX
Received 8 Mar 2019North & West Essex Adult Community College, Rivermill Centre, Hodings Road, Harlow, CM201NW
Received 30 Jul 2015Woodlands School,Takeley End,Kingswood,Basildon,SS165BA
Received 2 Aug 2005Mid Essex Gravel Pits Ltd, Essex Regiment Way, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, CM3 3PZ
Received 5 Jun 2013Brentwood County High School, Shenfield Common, Seven Archers Road, Brentwood,Brentwood County High School,Shenfield Common,Brentwood,CM14 4JF
Received 23 Mar 2009Land to the east of Brickfields Way, Brickfields Way, Rochford, SS4 1NB
Received 24 Mar 2015West Horndon County Primary School, Thorndon Avenue, West Horndon, Brentwood, CM13 3TR
Received 12 Nov 2018Dedham C of E Primary School,Parsons Field,Dedham,Colchester,CO7 6BZ
Received 3 Nov 2000Glebe Infant and Junior School,Creswick Avenue,Rayleigh,SS6 9HG
Received 4 Apr 2008Oakwood County Infant School,Windsor Avenue,Clacton on Sea,CO15 2AH
Received 23 May 2001Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 16 Apr 2010Records 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