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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 18 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Longwood Primary School,Parringdon Road,Harlow,CM18 7RQ
Received 10 Jul 2001Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 15 Oct 2012Bellhouse & Abbotstone Landfill Site,Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 18 Oct 201218 & 20 Main Road, Danbury, Chelmsford, CM3 4NQ
Received 17 Jan 2022North Primary School & Nursery, John Harper Street, Colchester, CO1 1RP
Received 28 Feb 2012Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, Essex, CO7 9JU
Received 13 May 2024White Court County Primary School,Ennerdale Avenue,London Road,Braintree,CM777UE
Received 16 Nov 1998Land at Sandon Quarry, Molrams Lane, Sandon
Received 17 May 2017Notley Green County Primary School,Blickling Road,Great Notley,Braintree,CM7 7LJ
Received 29 Jul 2004Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 10 Nov 2025Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 24 Dec 2005Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 22 Feb 2012Part OSP 0027, Newmarket Road, Gt Chesterford,Land adjacent to the M11,Great Chesterford,Saffron Walden
Received 11 Jul 2002Woodlands School,Takeley End,Kingswood,Basildon,SS165BA
Received 14 Mar 2012Highfield Resource Centre, Moulsham Street, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 9AQ
Received 20 May 2025Cressing County Primary School,Braintree Road,Tye Green,Cressing,Braintree,CM77 8JE
Received 1 Mar 2002Stanway Quarry and Five Ways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Colchester, Stanway, CO3 0NN
Received 20 May 2015William Read County Primary School, Long Road, Canvey Island, Essex, SS8 0JE
Received 27 Jan 2026St Mary's CofE Primary School,Colchester Road,Ardleigh,Colchester
Received 27 Oct 2003Infants School,Stortford Road,Dunmow,CM6 1DW
Received 2 Feb 2004Land to the South of Park Farm, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex
Received 22 Jun 2015Royal Oak Quarry,Chelmsford Rd,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM9 6TJ
Received 16 Aug 2001Asheldham Quarry, Southminster Road, Asheldham, Essex, CM0 7DZ
Received 25 May 2023Blind Lane,Birch Airfield,Blind Lane,Birch,Colchester,CO5 9HH
Received 19 Mar 2009Records 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.

Understanding planning · 13 min read
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