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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project, Creeksea Ferry Road, WALLASEA ISLAND, SS4 2HD
Received 31 Jan 2018Queen Boudica Primary School, Cowper Crescent, Colchester, CO4 5XT
Received 13 Jun 2013Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 8 Apr 2003The Old Rectory, Mucking Wharf Road, Stanford-le-hope, SS170RN
Received 24 Sept 2013Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Saffron Walden, CB11 3SL
Received 25 Jun 2014Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 6 Feb 2019Galleywood Infants School,Barnard Road,Galleywood,Chelmsford,CM2 8RR
Received 24 Jul 2007Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Dec 2020Land at Birch Pit, Roundbush Corner, Maldon Road, Colchester, Layer Marney, CO5 9XE
Received 21 May 2026All Saints CE Primary School (London Rd Campus),London Road,Maldon,CM9 6HY
Received 30 Sept 1999James Waste Management, Purdeys Industrial Estate, Brickfields Way, Rochford, Essex, SS4 1NB
Received 30 Aug 2018Essex County Council, County Hall, Chelmsford, CM1 1QH
Received 18 Feb 2013Land to the west of, & adjacent to, Cambridge Road, just to south of the River Stort and Old Road, Cambridge Road, Harlow, CM20 2EU
Received 21 Apr 2021Fairhouse Community Junior & Infant School,Long Riding,Basildon,SS141QP
Received 12 Jan 1999Land north of former Rivenhall Airfield/Bradwell Quarry, Coggeshall Road (A120), Braintree
Received 30 Oct 2023Writtle Junior School,Margaretting Road,Writtle,Chelmsford,CM1 3HG
Received 6 Jul 2010Uplands Road,West Mersea,Colchester
Received 30 Jul 1999Barling Marsh Quarry & Landfill, Mucking Hall Road, Barling Magna, SS3 0NR
Received 17 Aug 2020Mersea Outdoors Mersea Youth Camp,East Mersea Centre for Outdoor Learning,Rewsalls Lane,off East Road,East Mersea,Colchester,CO5 8SY
Received 7 Apr 2008Shorefields School, 114, Holland Road, Clacton-on-sea, CO156HF
Received 9 Jan 2013Millhouse County Infant School, Tavistock Road, Basildon, SS155QF
Received 4 Jun 2013Springfield Parish Centre, St. Augustines Way, Chelmsford, CM1 6GX
Received 24 Aug 2012Land adjacent to Chelmsford City Racecourse, Great Leighs, CHelmsford, CM3 1QP
Received 13 May 2021Former Kores Nordic Site,West Road,Harlow,CM20 2AL
Received 19 Feb 2013Records 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 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