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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
St Lawrence CofE Primary School,Rectory Road,Rowhedge,Colchester,CO5 7HR
Received 2 Oct 2000Richard De Clare Primary School,Parsonage Street,Halstead,CO9 2JT
Received 6 Dec 2010Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 17 Feb 2020Civic Amenity and Recycling Centre, Braintree Road, Shalford, CM7 5HQ
Received 1 Dec 2016Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project, Creeksea Ferry Road, WALLASEA ISLAND, SS4 2HD
Received 10 Sept 2019Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 8 Jul 2016Poyal Oak Pit,Royal Oak Quarry,Chelmsford Rd,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM9 6TJ
Received 30 Nov 2000Newport Free Grammar School,Burywater Lane,Saffron Walden,CB11 3TR
Received 12 Jan 2006Patterns Yard,Nayland Road,West Bergholt,Colchester,CO6 3DG
Received 12 Dec 2011Crown Quarry, Old Ipswich Road,Tendring,Colchester,CO7 7QR
Received 31 Aug 2017Bulls Lodge Quarry (Boreham Airfield), Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 22 Jul 2015Ashlyns Farm, Epping Road, North Weald, Epping, CM16 6RZ
Received 11 Oct 2021Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 13 Jun 2022Hogarth County Primary School,Riseway,Ingrave Road,Brentwood,CM15 8BG
Received 19 Oct 1998Ugley Landfill Site,Cambridge Road,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM22 6HT
Received 28 Jan 2004Woodlands School, Takeley End, Kingswood, Basildon, SS165BA
Received 16 Sept 2011Brittons Hall Farm,Roxwell Landfill,Chignal St James,Chelmsford,CM1 4TZ
Received 17 Apr 2008Roydon C P School,Harlow Road,Harlow,CM19 5HN
Received 12 Apr 2006Former St Nicholas CofE Primary School,Church Road,Rawreth,Wickford,SS118SH
Received 6 Jun 2000Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 15 Sept 1994Land at Russell Green, Boreham Road, Chelmsford
Received 13 Sept 2023John Ray Infant and Junior School, Notley Road, Braintree, Essex, CM7 1HL
Received 2 Jul 2015Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 23 Mar 2016land at Russell Green, Boreham Road, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3BA
Received 4 Mar 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
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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