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6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 12 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 16 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Chelmsford Adult Community College,Beeches Close,Chelmsford,CM1 2SB
Received 29 Jan 2004Infants School,Stortford Road,Dunmow,CM6 1DW
Received 23 Jan 2003Fairview,Magpie Lane,Little Warley,Brentwood,CM13 3DT
Received 3 Aug 2004Lexden Springs School,Halstead Road,Colchester,CO3 9AB
Received 22 Jan 2009Asheldham Quarry, Tillingham Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7NX
Received 15 Feb 2022John Ray Cp Infants School, Notley Road, Braintree, CM7 1HL
Received 26 Feb 2015Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 7 Oct 2021Brightside County Primary School, Brightside, Billericay, CM120LE
Received 22 Dec 2011Asheldham Quarry, Tillingham Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 16 Apr 2025Millhouse Junior, Infant and Nursery School,Tavistock Road,Laindon,Basildon,SS155QF
Received 23 May 2002Barling Magna Primary School,Little Wakering Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 OLN
Received 20 Jun 2010Passmores School and Technology College,Tendring Road,Harlow,CM18 6RW
Received 22 May 2009Stanway Fiveways Primary School, Winstree Road, Stanway, CO3 0QG
Received 26 Sept 2017Land at: Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex
Received 9 Sept 2024Marsh Farm Country Park,Marsh Farm Road,South Woodham Ferrers,Chelmsford,CM3 5WP
Received 2 Feb 2001Anglo European High School,Willow Green,Ingatestone,CM4 0DJ
Received 21 Nov 2003Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, CO7 7RU
Received 29 Jul 2025Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 28 Jul 2016Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 18 Jan 2019Clacton Library 96 Station Road Clacton On Sea Essex CO15 1SF
Received 17 Sept 2026Land to the South of Colchester Main Road (known as Sunnymead, Elmstead and Heath Farms), Alresford, Essex, C07 8DB
Received 14 Jun 2018Myland Cp School, Mill Road, Mile End, Colchester, CO4 5LD
Received 12 Aug 2014Elsenham Cof E Primary School,High Street,Elsenham,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6DD
Received 11 Oct 2010Montgomery Infant & Junior School, Baronswood Way, Colchester, Essex, CO2 9QG
Received 17 Jul 2014Records 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