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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
North Primary School & Nursery, John Harper Street, Colchester, CO1 1RP
Received 17 Nov 2011Land to the north A12, Trunk road at Cuckoo Farm (Park & Ride),Cuckoo Farm,Boxted Road,Mile End,Colchester,CO4 5HH
Received 28 Jul 2014Unit 11 Ozdil House, River Way, Harlow, CM20 2DR
Received 6 Feb 2020Codham Hall Farm, Codham Hall Lane, Great Warley, Brentwood, Essex
Received 1 Mar 2013Land at Stanway Quarry and east of Colchester Zoo, Maldon Road, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0SL
Received 5 Apr 2023Harlow Rail Depot,Station Approach,Harlow,CM20 2EL
Received 29 Jun 2005Land at The Chase, Newhall, Harlow, CM17 6JA
Received 3 May 2017Stansted Youth Centre,Lower Street,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM248LR
Received 11 Nov 2009Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 31 Mar 2025Market Field School,School Road,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7ET
Received 9 Mar 1999Land to the south of Terminus Drive, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, SS16 4UH
Received 26 Aug 2016Bluehouse Junior & Infant School,Leinster Road,Laindon,Basildon
Received 3 Jun 2003St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 29 Jun 2012Epping Primary School,Epping Primary School,Coronation Hill,Epping,CM16 5DU
Received 14 Oct 2008Bentfield Primary School, Rainsford Road, Stansted, CM248DX
Received 11 May 2015Little Easton Airfield,Little Easton,Dunmow,CM6 2BB
Received 11 Dec 2006Carousel Children's Centre (Former Chapel Hill CPS),Chapel Hill,Braintree,CM7 3QZ
Received 21 Mar 2005St Marys Church Of England Primary School, Marsh Road, Burnham-on-crouch, Essex CM0 8LZ
Received 16 Jun 2022Springfield Primary School, Forsythia Close, Chelmsford, CM1 6XW
Received 22 Dec 2015Allens Farm RESERVOIR,Wivenhoe Road,Crockleford Heath,Colchester,CO7 7BN
Received 20 Oct 1998Layer De La Haye WwTW,Bounstead Hill,Layer De La Haye,Colchester
Received 19 Feb 2009South Benfleet Library, High Road, South Benfleet, Benfleet, Essex, SS7 5HD
Received 7 Feb 2025Ryedene Primary and Nursery School, Ryedene, off Clover Way, Vange, Basildon
Received 19 Jul 2018Alresford Quarry, Ford Lane, Alresford, Colchester, CO7 8BB
Received 18 Dec 2024Records 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