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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Land adjacent to Cressing Road,Faulkbourne Farm,Witham
Received 22 May 2007Notley High School,Notley Road,Braintree,CM7 1HL
Received 7 Nov 2008Bradwell Power Station, Downhall Beach Bradwell-on-sea, Essex CM0 7HP
Received 7 Oct 2022Glebe Farm,Beaumont-cum-Moze,Clacton-on-Sea
Received 24 Jan 2007Widdington Pit, Hollow Road, Widdington, CB11 3SL
Received 7 Oct 2021Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 11 May 2016St Peters High School,Southminster Road,Burnham on Crouch,CM0 8QB
Received 5 Sept 2005Haven Quay,Haven Road,Colchester
Received 3 Apr 2008Crumps Farm, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SR
Received 18 Nov 2019Frogs Hall Farm,Bambers Green,Takeley,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6PE
Received 27 Mar 2003Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 12 Oct 2012Gt Bentley Primary School,Plough Road,Gt Bentley,Colchester,CO7 8LD
Received 10 May 2006Oakwood Yard, Welton Way,Purdeys Industrial Estate,Purdeys Way,Rochford
Received 8 Aug 2001Hall Farm Reservoir,Hall Farm RESERVOIR,Long Lane,Tendring,Clacton-on-Sea,CO16 0BL
Received 2 Jun 1993Kores Nordic (gb) Ltd, West Road, Harlow, CM202AL
Received 4 Mar 2014Plume Academy, Mill Road Campus, Mill Road, CM9 5DU
Received 11 Mar 2025Sandon,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 1 Mar 1984Lexden Springs, Former Heath School, Winstree Road, Colchester CO3 0PZ
Received 17 May 2019Broxbourne Airfield,Nursery Road,Broxbourne,EN9 2JE
Received 11 Feb 1963Frogs Hall Farm,Bambers Green,Takeley,Bishop's Stortford,CM22 6PE
Received 30 Jan 2001Grange Primary School,Grange County Primary School,Elder Avenue,Wickford,SS12 0LR
Received 23 Jan 2006Royal Oak Quarry,Royal Oak Quarry,Chelmsford Rd,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM9 6TJ
Received 3 Feb 1998Land to the south of Colchester Main Road, Alresford, Nr Colchester, C07 8DB
Received 4 Oct 2022Bromfords School,Grange Avenue,Wickford,SS12 0LZ
Received 28 May 2008Records 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.

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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