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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Barling Marsh Quarry and Landfill Site,Mucking Hall Road,Barling Magna,Rochford,SS3 0NR
Received 27 Aug 2002Home Farm, Chigwell Lane, Chigwell. Old Brickfield Site, Epping Road, Roydon,Old Brickfield Site,Epping Road,Roydon,Harlow
Received 27 Mar 2003Copford CE Primary School,School Road,Copford,Colchester,CO6 1BX
Received 17 May 2011Hogarth County Junior School, Riseway, Brentwood, Essex, CM15 8BG
Received 10 Apr 2017Barling Marsh Quarry & Landfill, Mucking Hall Road, Barling Magna, SS3 0NR
Received 25 Oct 2018Staples Road Primary School,Staples Road,Loughton,IG10 1HR
Received 23 Dec 2010Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land south of Cuthedge Lane.
Received 20 Nov 2023Land north of Bluebridge Industrial Estate,Halstead,CM9 2SZ
Received Not publishedLand between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 10 Sept 2026St. Giles C Of E Primary School, Church Street, Great Maplestead, Halstead, CO9 2RG
Received 4 Sept 2014Anglo European High School,Willow Green,Ingatestone,CM4 0DJ
Received 24 Jun 2003Richard De Clare County Primary School, Parsonage Street, Halstead, CO9 2JT
Received 15 Jan 2015Green Recycling Ltd, Quayside Industrial Park, Bates Road, Maldon, Essex, CM9 5FA
Received 2 Apr 2020Land adjacent to Blakes Golf Club,Epping Road,North Weald Bassett,Epping,CM16 6RZ
Received 28 Oct 2009Land at Birch Quarry, Maldon Road, Colchester Essex, CO5 9XE
Received 6 Jun 2018Lodge Farm,Lodge Farm Lane,St Osyth,Clacton-0n-Sea,CO16 8SA
Received 8 Mar 2011Sir Charles Lucas School,Sir Charles Lucas School,Hawthorn Avenue,Greenstead Estate,Colchester,CO4 3JL
Received 24 Mar 2005Land between Courtauld Road (Burnt Mills Indus Estate) and A127 (Southend Arterial Road) and land immediately to the north of the A127, Basildon.,Basildon
Received 10 Jan 200635A Perry Road,35A Perry Road,Industrial Estate East,Witham,CM8 3YY
Received 27 Feb 1998Wivenhoe Quarry, Alresford Road, Wivenhoe, Colchester, Essex, CO7 9JU
Received 13 Feb 2013Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 8 Apr 2024Monkwick County Infant School,School Road,Colchester,CO2 8NN
Received 6 Apr 2004Cherry Orchard Brickworks,Star Lane Brickworks,Great Wakering,Southend-on-Sea
Received 6 May 1998Queen Boudica Primary School, Cowper Crescent, Colchester, CO4 5XT
Received 4 Feb 2013Records 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