Former Aldermaston Quarry Site Padworth Lane Lower Padworth Reading Data via plota.co.uk

26/00155/CERTE - Certificate of Lawfulness (Existing) Approved

Proposal

Land is naturally regenerating as a nature reserve without compliance with conditions 40, 41, 42 and 43 of planning permission . Quarry activities ceased in 2010, and the processing plant was removed from the site between 2010 and 2014 (dates taken from Google Earth images). Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
26 Jan 2026
✓
Validated
3 Feb 2026
✓
Approved
21 May 2026

Approved on 21 May 2026 · Delegated Decision · Last checked 25 Jul 2026

Documents 32

Statements & assessments 2

PDF Objector’s name hidden Show Representation Objection · 25 Feb 2026 View ↗
PDF Ecological Management Plan Supporting Document · 28 Jan 2026 View ↗

All documents on the council site ↗

Site constraints 4

Flood zone 3, rivers and sea
High chance: a 1 in 100 or greater annual chance from rivers, or 1 in 200 from the sea. Any development here needs a flood risk assessment. Defences are not counted.
The Environment Agency flood map for planning. Homes in zone 3 must also pass the sequential test. Surface water flooding is a separate map.
Flood map ↗
Agricultural land, grade 3a
Best and most versatile land (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Source: the Predictive Agricultural Land Classification Map (Defra and Natural England, 2025; the Welsh Government's Predictive ALC Map 2 in Wales), a model rather than a site survey. Natural England's Provisional ALC map (1:250,000, 1970s), which most planning maps still show, had this area as grade 4. The predicted grade is Defra's current estimate; only a site survey settles it.
Where development of farmland is needed, policy prefers poorer land over the best and most versatile (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Three sources: Natural England's post-1988 field surveys, which are definitive where they exist; the Defra predictive map for England (2025) and the Welsh Government predictive map, modelled from the soil map with 3a and 3b split; and the 1970s provisional map, which planners and other services still show, coarser and with grade 3 undivided. Where the provisional and predicted grades disagree, treat the predicted grade as the current estimate and expect an application to carry its own survey.
Habitat network: Network Expansion Zone
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Also on the record
Radon affected area, class 2.
Not affected
Not green belt · No listed building at the site · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 2026. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the British Geological Survey and UK Health Security Agency (radon, contains BGS materials © UKRI) and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

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Important details

Application type
Certificate of Lawfulness (Existing)
Received
26 Jan 2026
Validated
3 Feb 2026
Ward
Aldermaston
Parish
Padworth Parish Council
Case officer
Show
Target decision
31 Mar 2026
Decision
Approval
Decision date
21 May 2026
Decision level
Delegated Decision
Applicant
Show
Agent
RJA Planning Services

Consultation & key dates

Comments by
18 Mar 2026
Statutory expiry
31 Mar 2026
Env. assessment
No
West Berkshire
Planning Authority Score
3.9/10
Below average
#202 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

West Berkshire is slower than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #199 out of 296. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (93%) than the national average (90%).

Slower than most councils
for householder decisions
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
West Berkshire decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
90%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #122 of 296
93%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #142 of 296
57%
Decided in 8 weeks
Below avg (63%) #199 of 296
46%
Extended time limit
Above avg (41%) #203 of 296
55%
Minor dwellings approved
65 decided (1-9 homes)
96%
Major dwellings approved
25 decided (10+ homes)
77%
Change of use approved
57 decided
1,045
Total decisions
108 refused in the year to March 2026