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.
6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, Colchester
Received 20 Nov 2020St. Helens Catholic Junior School, Sawyers Hall Lane, Brentwood, CM159BY
Received 10 Sept 2013Colchester Quarry (stanway), Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 5 Oct 2017Lawford C Of E Primary School Long Road Lawford CO11 2EF
Received 23 Nov 2020Bradwell Quarry,Coggeshall Road,Bradwell,Braintree,CM77 8EP
Received 11 Jan 2013Bradwell Nuclear Power Station,Bradwell on Sea,Maldon,CM0 7HP
Received 1 Jul 2015Newport Chalk Quarry, Chalk Farm Lane, Newport, Saffron Walden, Essex
Received 14 Sept 2020Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 16 Sept 2024Stansted to Braintree A120,Braintree
Received 27 Oct 2000Childerditch Highway Depot,Hall Drive,Childerditch Industrial Park,Brentwood,CM13 3HD
Received 7 Jul 2006Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 11 Feb 2003Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 5 Oct 2023De La Salle RC School, Ghyllgrove, Basildon, SS142LA
Received 16 Jan 2012Ashlyns Organic Farm,Epping Road,North Weald,Epping,CM16 6RZ
Received 3 Dec 2004Westlands Community Primary School,Beeches Close,Chelmsford,CM1 2SB
Received 2 Sept 2003Woodlands Comprehensive School, Takely End, Basildon, SS165BA
Received 9 Jul 2012Ely House, Churchill Avenue, Basildon, Essex, SS14 2BQ
Received 30 May 2025Castledon School, Bromfords Drive, Wickford, SS12 0PW
Received 16 Oct 2023Bellhouse Closed Landfill Site Warren Lane Stanway Colchester CO3 0NN
Received 25 Nov 2020St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 17 Nov 2006Land between Beaulieu Park (north of Generals Lane), Boreham Parish, and Deres Bridge Roundabout on A131, Great & Little Leighs Parish, to the north east of Chelmsford.
Received 7 Oct 2022St James C.E Primary School,Guildford Road,Colchester,CO1 2RA
Received 16 May 2011Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP
Received 27 Mar 2020Land to the south of Terminus Drive, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, SS16 4UH
Received 24 Oct 2017Records 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.

Property research · 13 min read
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