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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Located within the triangle of the villages / hamlets of Ford End, Hartford End and Littley Green in Essex. The nearest postcode is CM3 1LE and the grid reference is TL 68647 16413 and X (Easting): 568647 and Y (Northing): 216413
Received 28 Jan 2026Lawford C Of E Primary School, Long Road, Lawford, CO11 2EF
Received 19 Jul 2021Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, CO7 9JU
Received 24 Nov 2020Vacant Land, Circular Road East, Colchester
Received 4 Sept 2012Malting Lane Landfill,Kirby-le-Soken,Walton on the Naze,CO130DS
Received 26 Sept 2011Lufkins Farm, Frating and Brook Farm, Great Bentley, Colchester
Received 21 Aug 2015Land north of Bluebridge Industrial Estate,Halstead,CM9 2SZ
Received 22 Apr 2013Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 21 Feb 2003Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 15 Nov 2024The Colne Community School, Church Road, Brightlingsea CO7 0QL
Received 30 Sept 2020Finchingfield Bridge, The Green, Finchingfield, Essex, CM7 4JS
Received 22 Dec 2022Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 8 Apr 2024Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, CM9 8BQ
Received 31 May 2019Bradwell Power Station, Downhall Beach Bradwell-on-sea, Essex CM0 7HP
Received 4 Apr 2022Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 20 Jan 2016Tiptree Heath CPS,103 Maldon Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 OPG
Received 24 Nov 2005Lyons Hall School,Deerleap Way,Braintree,CM7 9DH
Received 1 Apr 1999Boreham County Primary School,Juniper Road,Boreham,Chelmsford,CM3 3DB
Received 4 Nov 1999Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 7 Aug 2026Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, CO7 7EX
Received 26 Jan 2021Hollow Road,Widdington,Saffron Walden,CB113SL
Received 26 Apr 2007Land at Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell on Sea, Southminster, Essex, CM0 7HQ
Received 23 Jun 2022Westwood Primary School,Beresford Close,Hadleigh,Benfleet,SS7 2SU
Received 24 Jul 2007B 184 S.E. of Gt Chesterford,Walden Road,Gt.Chesterford,Saffron Walden
Received 4 Aug 1992Records 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