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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, CO7 7EX
Received 14 Nov 2025Tile Kiln Farm, Sible Hedingham, Halstead, Essex, CO9 1UP
Received 23 Feb 2024Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill, Mucking Hall Road, Barling Magna
Received 12 Aug 2016Land at Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell on Sea, Southminster, Essex, CM0 7HQ
Received 31 Mar 2023St Clere's Hall Pit,Main Road,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AR
Received 28 Sept 2005Gilden Way and Sheering Road public highways and land between Sheering Road and M11 Motorway
Received 28 Feb 2018Harlowbury Primary School Site, Gilden Way, Harlow
Received 16 Apr 2025Land at Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex
Received 14 May 2014ECC Waste Transfer Station, Winsford Way, Boreham, CHELMSFORD, CM2 5AA
Received 22 Dec 2016Chelmsford Sewage Works,Brook End Road,Chelmsford
Received 20 Dec 2011Bulls Lodge Quarry, Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 11 Aug 2017Land at Courtauld Road, Basildon, Essex
Received 26 Aug 2014Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 28 Jun 2004Land at Regiment Business Park, Eagle Way, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 3FY
Received 23 Jan 2024Weald Park Visitors Centre, Weald Country Park, Weald Road, South Weald Essex, CM14 5QS
Received 4 Oct 2023Armigers Farm,Armigers Farm,Thaxted
Received 27 Apr 1995Tiptree Basketworks & Woodyard,Tiptree Basketworks & Woodyard,Grange Road,Tiptree,Colchester,CO5 0QQ
Received 9 Jul 1999Land at: Colemans Farm Quarry, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 5 Feb 2024Lodge Farm,Lodge Farm Lane,St Osyth,Clacton-0n-Sea,CO16 8SA
Received 29 Sept 2005Land to the east of Buttleys Lane, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SH
Received 28 Jan 2025Shalford Primary School,Church End,Shalford,Braintree,CM7 5EZ
Received 16 Nov 1998Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 7 Dec 2022Elsenham Quarry, Hall Road, ELSENHAM, CM22 6DR
Received 19 Oct 2017Essex County Council Waste Transfer Station, Colchester Eastern Bypass, ARDLEIGH, CO7 7SL
Received 22 Dec 2016Records 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