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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Tendring Adult Community College, St Osyth Road, Clacton On Sea, Essex, CO15 3BN
Received 1 Dec 2022Land adjacent to Brook End Road,Chelmsford
Received 5 Mar 2009Market Field School,School Road,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7ET
Received 4 Sept 1998The Sweyne Park School,Pearson Avenue,Rayleigh,SS6 9BZ
Received 12 Aug 2008Cordons Farm Depot, Long Green, Cressing, Braintree, CM778DL
Received 13 Dec 2012Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 18 Jul 2024St Helena School,Sheepen Road,Colchester,CO3 3LE
Received 5 Jun 2006Heathlands Primary School, New Church Road, West Bergholt, Colchester, CO6 3JF
Received 9 Mar 2012Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 6 May 2020Melbourne Park Primary School,Melbourne Avenue,Chelmsford,CM1 2DX
Received 18 Jul 2001St. James School, Guildford Road, Colchester, CO1 2RA
Received 13 Sept 2013Bansons Yard, High Street, Ongar, CM5 9AA
Received 3 Apr 2012Bellhouse Landfill, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 10 Mar 2014Bradwell Power Station, Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex, CM0 7HP
Received 15 Nov 2012Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Received 4 Apr 2013Crumps Farm,Stortford Rd,Little Canfield,Great Dunmow,CM6 1SR
Received 12 Oct 2012Land between the A120 and A133, to the east of Colchester and west of Elmstead Market
Received 7 Aug 2026Pitsea Landfill Site, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, SS16 4UH
Received 5 Dec 2017Ardleigh Highway Depot,Harwich Road,Ardleigh,Colchester
Received 21 Jun 2005Colemans Farm, Little Braxted Lane, Rivenhall End, Witham, Essex, CM8 3EX
Received 9 May 2025Cold Norton Primary School,St Stephens Road,Cold Norton,Maldon,CM3 6JE
Received 2 Feb 2001Pitsea Junior School,High Road,Pitsea,Basildon,SS133AB
Received 20 Feb 1998Market Field School,School Road,Elmstead Market,Colchester,CO7 7ET
Received 23 Aug 2007Compound N, Templewood Estate,Templewood Depot,Stock Road,West Hanningfield,Chelmsford,CM2 8LP
Received 16 Apr 1997Records 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