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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Park Farm,Martell's Quarry,Ardleigh,Colchester,CO7 7SP
Received 23 Mar 1994Land at Courtauld Road, basildon, Essex
Received 27 Mar 2012Westlands Community Primary School,Beeches Close,Chelmsford,CM1 2SB
Received 15 Nov 2002Keelars & Sunny Mead Farms, Elmstead,Wivenhoe Quarry,Alresford Road,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9JY
Received 6 Dec 1990Royal Oak Quarry, Woodham Mortimer
Received 14 Aug 2012Curry Farm,Mill End,Bradwell-on-Sea,Maldon,CM0 7HL
Received 18 Nov 2008Crown Quarry (Ardleigh Reservoir Extension)
Received 26 Jun 2012Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 1 Jul 2015Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 15 Apr 2014Birch Pit, Roundbush Corner, Maldon Road, Colchester, Layer Marney, CO5 9XE
Received 2 Feb 2024Hovefield Avenue, Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex, SS13 1EB
Received 16 Oct 2013Lexden Springs, Former Heath School, Winstree Road, Colchester, CO3 0PZ
Received 19 Jul 2018Colchester Quarry (Bellhouse), Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 4 Oct 2019Coopers Lake,Nazeing Quarry,Green Lane,Nazeing,Waltham Abbey,EN10 6TD
Received 6 May 1994A133, St. Andrews Avenue and Cowdray Avenue, Colchester
Received 27 Apr 2017Between the Brookend Sewage Treatment Works (STW), via intakes for Langford Water Treatment Works (WTW) and Hanningfield
Received 28 Sept 2012Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, CO7 7RU.
Received 20 Mar 2018Newhall Primary School, The Chase, Harlow, Newhall, CM17 9JA
Received 12 Sept 2017Notley High School,Notley High School,Notley Road,Braintree,CM7 1HL
Received 6 Apr 2004Mid Essex Gravel Pits Ltd, Essex Regiment Way, Little Waltham, Chelmsford, CM3 3PZ
Received 29 Dec 2011Broomfield Primary School,School Lane,Broomfield,Chelmsford,CM1 7DN
Received 4 Aug 2000Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, CO7 7EX
Received 8 Mar 2019Land South of Church Langley Primary School, Harlow,Church Langley Primary School,Church Langley Way,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9TH
Received 16 Jan 2001St. Georges Infant School, Barrington Road, Colchester, CO2 7RW
Received 20 Feb 2012Records 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.

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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