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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Brightlingsea Quarry, Moverons Lane, Brightlingsea, CO7 0SB
Received 1 Oct 2018The Maples, 3 Hodings Road, Harlow, Essex CM20 1AT
Received 13 Aug 2024Red House,School Road,Messing,Colchester,CO5 9TH
Received 5 Apr 2000Braintree Freeport Village, Charter Way, Braintree, CM7 78YH
Received 17 Apr 2012Childerditch Highways Depot, Hall Drive, Childerditch Industrial Park, Childerditch, Brentwood, Essex, CM13 3HD
Received 13 Jun 2013Birch Pit, Maldon Road, Birch, Colchester, CO5 9XE
Received 24 Aug 2023Lincewood Primary School,Berry Lane,Langdon Hills,Basildon,SS166AZ
Received 3 Jun 2003Pitsea Landfill site,Pitsea Hall Lane,Pitsea,Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 7 Nov 2008Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 7TE
Received 6 Nov 2014Milwards Primary School and Nursery,Paringdon Road,Harlow,CM19 4QX
Received 20 Jul 2007Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP
Received 17 Jun 2020Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 26 Jul 2024Prettygate Junior School,Plume Avenue,Colchester,CO3 4PH
Received 12 Mar 2002Lambourne C P School,Hoe Lane,Abridge,Romford,RM4 1AU
Received 11 Aug 1998Land to the South of Terminus Drive, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, Basildon, SS16 4UH
Received 16 Nov 2012Kings Ford County Infant & Junior School,Gloucester Ave,Colchester,CO2 9AZ
Received 27 Feb 2003The Plume Lower School,Mill Road Campus,Maldon
Received 10 Feb 2006Eight Ash Green & Aldham County Primary School,Fiddlers Folly (off Wood Lane),Fordham Heath,Colchester,CO3 9UE
Received 12 Aug 1998Unit 7 & Part Of Unit 8,Unit 7, Regal Works,Plummers Road,Fordham,Colchester,CO6 3NS
Received 27 Oct 2005Cedar Hall School,Hart Road,Thundersley,Benfleet,SS7 3UQ
Received 5 Oct 2006Messing Cum Inworth Community Primary School,School Road,Messing,Colchester,CO5 9TH
Received 24 Jul 2001Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, Essex, CB11 3SL
Received 11 Jan 2016Land adjacent to Rickstones Road, Rivenhall, CM8 2SD
Received 3 Jul 2020St Lawrence CofE Primary School,Rectory Road,Rowhedge,Colchester,CO5 7HR
Received 25 Nov 2003Records 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