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6,830 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn.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 Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.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.
Brightlingsea Primary School & Nursery, Eastern Road, Brightlingsea, CO7 0HU
Received 31 Jan 2025Land at Sheepcotes Farm, Sheepcotes Lane, Little Waltham, CM3 3LU
Received 11 Mar 2021Cressing Temple, Witham Road, Cressing, Braintree, CM778PD
Received 13 Feb 2015Land adjacent to Civic Amenity Site,Maldon Road,Shrub End,Colchester,CO3 4RN
Received 1 Feb 2002Cressing Temple, Witham Road, Cressing, Braintree, CM778PD
Received 13 Feb 2015Land to the east of Buttleys Lane, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1SH
Received 8 Dec 2023Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 17 Oct 2023The Cornelius Vermuyden School,Dinant Avenue,Canvey,SS8 9SQ
Received 18 Jun 2008Southminster sewage treatment works, Goldsands Road, Southminster, Maldon, Essex
Received 26 Jul 2012Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 0NN
Received 5 Nov 2024Land at Rivenhall Airfield, Coggeshall Road, Braintree, CO5 9DF
Received 18 Dec 2024Bulls Lodge Quarry (Boreham Airfield only), Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 11 Jun 2014Royal Oak Quarry, Chelmsford Road, Woodham Mortimer, CM9 6TJ
Received 10 Mar 2015Staples Road Primary School, Staples Road, Loughton, IG101HR
Received 3 Dec 2014Daisy House, Haven Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8HT
Received 21 Aug 2024Land at: Bellhouse Landfill Site, Warren Lane,Stanway,Colchester,CO3 0NN
Received 27 May 2022Waste Transfer Station, Cordons Farm, Long Green, Cressing, CM77 8DL
Received 2 Nov 2016Green Acres,Old Packards Lane,Wormingford,Colchester,CO6 3AH
Received 14 Sept 2012Home Farm CPS,Shelley Road,Colchester,CO3 4JL
Received 15 Dec 1998Felsted Primary School,Watch House Green,Felsted,Dunmow,CM6 3EB
Received 24 Aug 1999Bentley Country Park Ltd, Flag Hill, Great Bentley, Colchester, CO7 8RF
Received 23 Apr 2012Highwood Quarry, Stortford Road, Little Canfield, Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SL
Received 12 Aug 2019South Area Integrated Support Service,School House,20 The Avenue,Hadleigh,Benfleet,SS7 2DL
Received 5 Jun 2007Bradwell Quarry, Church Road, Bradwell, CM77 8EP, and land east of Sheepcotes Lane
Received 31 Oct 2019Records 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