Bracknell Forest Council, Reading Borough Council, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham Borough Council (collectively referred to as the Central and Eastern Berkshire Authorities) have worked in partnership to produce a Joint Minerals and Waste Plan to guide minerals and waste decision making in the Plan area.
The Joint Minerals and Waste Plan establishes the future levels of provision of minerals and waste development to meet national and regional policy targets and objectives. It sets out a vision of how this will be achieved and provides details of strategic sites that will deliver the vision.
The Joint Minerals and Waste Plan was adopted by Reading Borough Council on 31st January 2023. The Adopted Plan, together with the accompanying Policies Map, Adoption Statement and Sustainability Appraisal/Strategic Environmental Assessment Post-Adoption Report can be viewed on this page. Other documents relating to the plan can be seen on the dedicated website for the plan.
Stages of Production
To date, several information gathering consultations have been achieved to inform the Plan, each of these form part of consultations undertaken as part of Regulation 18 (of the Local Planning (England) Regulations 2012):
- In Summer 2017, an ‘Issues and Options’ Consultation was undertaken to gather technical information and confirm the evidence base;
- During Summer / Autumn 2018, a ‘Draft Plan’ consultation set out the proposed approach for the Joint Minerals and Waste Plan
- Due to a limited number of site options, a further ‘Call for Sites’ exercise was carried out. This resulted in an additional site (Bray Quarry Extension) being proposed. This was subject to consultation during the Summer of 2019
- In February and March 2020, a Focussed Regulation 18 Consultation: Sand & Gravel Provision and Operator Performance document was subject to consultation, which consulted on the criteria for defining an ‘Area of Search’ for sand & gravel provision, two new sites and a new ‘operator past performance’ policy.
- In September and October 2020, a Proposed Submission version of the plan, which was a full draft of the version of the plan that the authorities proposed to submit, was published for consultation
- The Joint Minerals and Waste Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State on 2th5 February 2021
- An independent examination of the plan, held by independent planning inspectors, was held, including hearing sessions in September and October 2021
- Leading on from the hearings, a number of modifications were identified that were needed to make the plan sound and legally compliant, and these were subject to consultation between February and April 2022
- The final report of the Inspectors was received on 20th October 2022. The report concluded that the plan is sound and legally compliant, subject to the main modifications