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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land at Colemans Farm, Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, CM8 3EX
Received 22 Jun 2016Plot 7, Phoenix Road, Haverhill Business Park, Haverhill, CB9 7AE
Received 17 Dec 2020Land rear of the Ambulance Station, Chelmsford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1LW
Received 24 Jan 2018Clacton County High School,Walton Road,Clacton on Sea,CO15 6DZ
Received 8 Mar 2004Bridgemarsh C H L D 184 Main Rd Broomfield, Chelmsford,Land adj. to Brooklands,Broomfield Road,Broomfield,Chelmsford
Received 10 Mar 1995Stapleford Abbotts Primary School,Stapleford Road,Stapleford Abbotts,Romford,RM4 1EJ
Received 6 May 2010Land at Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Essex, CM2 7TE
Received 15 Aug 2019South of Donyland Lodge.,Cherry Tree Primary School,Holt Drive,Colchester,CO2 0BG
Received 8 Mar 1996Wallasea Island,Rochford,SS4 2HD
Received 19 Dec 2011Doddinghurst Sewage Treatment Works,Wyatts Green Road,Brentwood,CM15 0SS
Received 3 Nov 2003Rainbow Family Centre,14 Quendon Road,Basildon,SS143PD
Received 19 Jan 2010Cressing Temple, Witham Road, Cressing, Braintree, CM778PD
Received 4 Mar 2015Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 21 Jan 2004Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 12 Oct 2012Lee Chapel County Primary School,The Knares,Basildon,SS16 5RU
Received 16 Nov 2005Birch Pit, Roundbush Corner, Maldon Road, Colchester, Layer Marney, CO5 9XE
Received 2 Feb 2024Mountnessing Church Of England Primary School, Roman Road, Mountnessing, CM15 0UH
Received 2 Oct 2020Market Field School,School Road,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7ET
Received 6 Feb 1998Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 25 Apr 2005Pitsea Junior School,High Road,Pitsea,Basildon,SS133AB
Received 24 Jun 2011Highfields CPS,Colchester Rd,Lawford,Manningtree,CO11 2BN
Received 31 May 2001Land to the west of Winsford Way, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 5AA
Received 23 Sept 2013Star Lane Brickworks,Great Wakering,Southend-on-Sea
Received 2 May 2002Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 16 Jun 2023Records 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