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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Kingswode Hoe School, Sussex Road, Colchester, CO3 3QJ
Received 20 Mar 2019Writtle Agricultural College,Land at Writtle College,Writtle,Chelmsford,CM1 3SB
Received 6 Oct 2000Land to the west of, & adjacent to, Cambridge Road, just to south of the River Stort and Old Road, Cambridge Road, Harlow, CM20 2EU
Received 17 Mar 2021Limes Farm County Primary & Infant School, Limes Avenue, Chigwell, IG7 5LP
Received 14 Jan 2014Old Hall Farm, Church Road, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3EJ
Received 15 May 2014Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, CM0 7DZ
Received 10 Jul 2020Southminster Cof E Primary School,Burnham Road,Southminster,CM0 7ES
Received 11 Dec 2007Clacton Register Office,2, Skelmersdale Rd,Clacton on Sea,CO15 6BP
Received 4 Jun 1998Great Berry Primary School,Forest Glade,Langdon Hills,Basildon,SS166SG
Received 22 Dec 2000Little Easton Airfield,Little Easton,Dunmow,CM6 2BB
Received 6 Oct 2014Elsenham Cof E Primary School,High Street,Elsenham,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6DD
Received 27 Oct 2005Limes Farm County Junior and Infant Schools,Limes Avenue,Chigwell,IG7 5LP
Received 2 Jun 2011Land to the south of Colchester Main Road Alresford Nr Colchester C07 8DB
Received 16 Jun 2022Great Bradfords Infant School,Marlborough Road,Braintree,CM7 9LW
Received 20 Feb 1998Highwood Quarry, Little Canfield, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 10 Apr 2018Ghyllgrove County Junior School,The Gore, Ghyllgrove, Basildon,Ghyllgrove County Infant & Junior School,The Gore,Ghyllgrove,Basildon,SS142BD
Received 7 Apr 2003Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 14 Sept 2012Wentworth County Primary School,Maldon,CM9 6JN
Received 20 Nov 1998Land between Sheering Road and the M11 Motorway
Received 25 Sept 2020Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 1 Jul 2015Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 23 Jul 2018The Chase, Newhall, Harlow, CM17 6JA
Received 31 Aug 2017Land at Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 25 Mar 2022Church Lane,Marks Tey,Colchester,CO6 1LN
Received 15 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.

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