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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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: 19 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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Old Heath County Primary School,Old Heath Road,Colchester,CO2 8DD
Received 29 May 2002Rayne County Primary School,Capel Road,Rayne,Braintree,CM7 5BZ
Received 18 Jan 2006Sandon,Sandon Quarry,Southend Road,Chelmsford,CM2 7TE
Received 27 Dec 1984Greenacres, Warehouse, Packards Lane, Wormingford, Essex, CO6 3AH
Received 8 Oct 2025Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 14 Dec 2015William De Ferrers School, Trinity Square, South Woodham Ferrers, Chelmsford, CM3 5JU
Received 6 Dec 2011Land at The Chase, Newhall, Harlow, CM17 6JA
Received 3 May 2017Danbury Park County Primary School,Well Lane,Danbury,Chelmsford,CM3 4AB
Received 23 Jan 2006Waltham Holy Cross Junior School,Quendon Drive,Monkswood Avenue,Waltham Abbey,EN9 1LG
Received 15 Dec 2004Elmstead Hall, Elmstead, Colchester, Essex. CO7 7EX
Received 24 Jul 2017Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Easton, Near Great Dunmow, Essex
Received 1 Oct 201223 Bocking End,Braintree
Received 27 Aug 1999Ugley Landfill Site,Ugley Landfill Site,Cambridge Road,Stansted Mountfitchet,CM22 6HT
Received 31 Jan 2000Two Village Primary School,Mayes Lane,Ramsey,Harwich,CO12 5HP
Received 22 Jul 2002Boxted St Peters C Of E Primary School, Carters Hill, Boxted, Essex, CO4 5YN
Received 5 Oct 2026Bradwell Power Station, Downhall Beach, Bradwell-on-sea, Essex, CM0 7HP
Received 8 Aug 2023Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP
Received 20 May 2021Shalford Primary School,Church End,Shalford,Braintree,CM7 5EZ
Received 27 Jan 2009Colchester Sewage Treatment Works, Haven Road, The Hythe, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8HT
Received 10 Jan 2014Land at Bellhouse Farm South
Received 30 Jan 2025Lufkins Farm, Great Bentley Road, Frating, CO7 7HN
Received 24 Nov 2022Hall Road,Gt.Totham Hall,Great Totham,Maldon,CM9 8NN
Received 6 Jun 1994Beaulieu Park Education Campus site, Beaulieu, Chelmsford
Received 7 Dec 2017Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 5 Mar 2014Records 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