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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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. Andrews Infant School, Hickory Avenue, Colchester, CO4 3QJ
Received 24 Aug 2012Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating
Received 20 Sept 2019Cory Environmental, Mucking Hall Road, Barling Magna, Southend-on-sea, SS3 0NR
Received 29 Sept 2016Kirby Primary School,Kirby Primary School,Halstead Road,Kirby Cross,Frinton on Sea,CO13 0LW
Received 29 Apr 2003Elsenham Church Of England Primary School, High Street, Elsenham, CM22 6DD
Received 26 Jul 2018Land to the South of Colchester Main Road (known as Sunnymead, Elmstead and Heath Farms), Nr Wivenhoe, Alresford, CO7 8DB
Received 11 Dec 2025St Cleres Hall Pit, Main Road, Danbury, Essex, CM3 4AR
Received 17 Jun 2013St Johns Green Primary School Abbey Field, 5, Circular Road East, COLCHESTER, CO2 7SZ
Received 31 Mar 2017Bellhouse Pit,Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 12 Aug 1999Brightside County Junior And Infant School, Brightside, Billericay CM12 0LE
Received 14 Jan 2020Harwich Community Primary School Playing Field,Barrack Lane,Harwich,CO123NS
Received 8 Aug 2001Martells Pit,Martell's Quarry,Ardleigh,Colchester,CO7 7SP
Received 4 Sept 1995Tiptree Heath CPS,103 Maldon Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 OPG
Received 3 Sept 1997James Waste Management, Purdeys Industrial Estate, Brickfields Way, Rochford, Essex, SS4 1NB
Received 2 Oct 2020Writtle Wick Family Centre,62 Chignal Road,Chelmsford,CM1 2JB
Received 16 Aug 2007Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, Braintree, CM778DL
Received 27 Jan 2014Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 3 May 2013Mid Essex Adult Community College,Bishops Hill,Rayleigh Road,Brentwood,CM13 1BD
Received 14 Dec 2001The Tyrrells School,Tavistock Road,Springfield,Chelmsford,CM1 6JN
Received 9 Jul 2009Allens Farm, Tye Road, Elmstead Market, Colchester, Essex, CO7 7BN
Received 16 Dec 2013Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land south of Cut Hedge Lane
Received 19 Mar 2015Pond Hall, Wix,Pond Hall,Bradfield Road,Wix,Manningtree
Received 3 Jun 1997LAND TO THE SOUTH OF COLCHESTER MAIN ROAD (KNOWN AS SUNNYMEAD, ELMSTEAD AND HEATH FARMS), ALRESFORD NR WIVENHOE CO7 8DB
Received 15 Dec 2023Plot C, Birchwood Ind Est, Hoe Lane, Nazeing, Waltham Abbey. EN9 2RJ
Received 27 Jan 2011Records 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