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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Notley High School,Notley Road,Braintree,CM7 1HL
Received 18 May 2007Vacant Land, Circular Road East, Colchester
Received 4 Sept 2012A127/A130 Fairglen Interchange
Received 12 Oct 2020Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, CO7 9JU
Received 29 Jan 2019Elsenham Church of England Primary School, High Street, ELSENHAM, CM22 6DD
Received 27 Apr 2018Ugley Landfill Site, Cambridge Road, UGLEY, CM22 6HT
Received 2 Apr 2020Notley Green County Primary School,Blickling Road,Great Notley,Braintree,CM7 7LJ
Received 6 Jul 2010Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project, Creeksea Ferry Road, WALLASEA ISLAND, SS4 2HD
Received 24 Sept 2018Sandon Quarry,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 7 Oct 1999William Martin Junior School,William Martin CofE Infant & Nursery School,Tawneys Road,Harlow,CM18 6PW
Received 19 Feb 2004Land South of Fingringhoe,Fingringhoe Quarry,Ballast Quay,Fingringhoe,Colchester
Received 11 Dec 2013Bulls Lodge Quarry (Park Farm & Brick Farm Land), Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 3 Aug 201834 The Square,Rochford,SS4 1AJ
Received 22 Feb 2002Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 11 Mar 2004St Georges C E P School,Brook Street,Gt Bromley,Colchester
Received 19 Nov 1998Units 10-11,Units 10/11,Archers Field Close,Burnt Mills Industrial Estate,Basildon
Received 1 Dec 2009Little Parndon School,Little Parndon Respite Care Unit (Little Parndon Primary School),Park Mead,Harlow,CM20 1PU
Received 30 Jan 2006Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 2 Aug 2012The Heath School,Winstree Road,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 5QE
Received 13 Feb 2008Abacus Primary School, Tresco Way, Wickford, SS129GJ
Received 26 Oct 2016Land at Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 21 Jul 2014Sandon Quarry,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 15 Aug 2000Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 20 Nov 1996Ravenscroft County Primary School,Nayland Drive,Clacton on Sea,CO16 8TZ
Received 22 Dec 2003Records 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 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