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.
6,828 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 15 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 17 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
The Sweyne Park School,Pearson Avenue,Rayleigh,SS6 9BZ
Received 11 Apr 1997Royal Oak Quarry, Woodham Walter, Danbury, Essex, CM9 6TJ
Received 16 Nov 2012Broomgrove County Infant School,Broome Grove,Wivenhoe,Colchester,CO7 9QB
Received 29 Apr 2003Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School, Queens Road, Brentwood, CM14 4EX
Received 9 Nov 2021A127/A130 Fairglen Interchange
Received 20 Dec 2020Colchester Quarry (Stanway Hall),Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 2 Jun 2003Land at Colchester Quarry (Bellhouse), Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 25 Apr 2022Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Colchester, Wivenhoe, C07 9JY
Received 19 Jul 2021Felmore Primary School,Davenants,Pitsea,Basildon,SS131QZ
Received 20 Feb 1998Church Langley Primary School,Church Langley Way,Church Langley,Harlow,CM17 9TH
Received 23 Dec 1999High Ongar Primary School, The Street, High Ongar, Ongar, CM5 9NB
Received 9 Nov 2012Land at Courtauld Road, basildon, Essex
Received 6 Feb 2013Alderton Infant and Junior School, Alderton Hall Lane, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3HE
Received 17 Jun 2014Wickford Junior School,Market Road,Wickford,SS12 0AG
Received 4 Aug 2005Fiveways Primary School,Winstree Road,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0QG
Received 5 Feb 2007Plume Academy, Mill Road Campus, Mill Road, CM9 5DU
Received 11 Mar 2025Birch Airfield, Blind Lane, Birch, Essex, CO5 9XE
Received 17 Oct 2022Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 10 Nov 2025Land at: Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex.
Received 18 Nov 2019Land allocated for a new primary school under Land South of Limebrook Way and East of Maldon Wick, Maldon, Essex
Received 5 Apr 2023Land at Dollymans Farm, Doublegate Lane, Rawreth, Wickford, SS11 8UD
Received 4 Jun 2024Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 11 Nov 2020Heatherland Composting,Stondon Hall Farm,Stondon Massey,Ongar,CM15 0LD
Received 9 Jun 2005Bradwell Quarry, Coggeshall Road (A120T), Essex, Bradwell, United Kingdom
Received 25 Apr 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