A LOCAL environment group has lodged a complaint with West Berkshire Council over the handling of a planning application at AWE in Burghfield.
The Nuclear Awareness Group (NAG), based in Reading, have written to the council outlining their concerns about the way plans to build a new nuclear warhead facility were handled.
NAG have said the planning application was dealt with innapropriately because no steps were taken to clarify confusion over whether the district council or the Environment Agency was responsible for flood risks in the area.
They also say that Reading Borough Council was not consulted properly on the development and that public consultation over the issue was limited because it took place over the Christmas period when many people are away.
Other complaints include the report made by council officers to the Planning Committee which NAG claim did not adequately reflect the views and concerns raised by members of the public who objected to the application.
Peter Burt, from NAG, said: “The AWE Burghfield planning application was for a development which will handle explosives, radioactive material, and hazardous chemicals less than five miles from the centre of one of the biggest urban areas in the South of England, to be built slap bang in the middle of a flood risk zone.
“Everyone would agree that it is essential that a planning application of this nature is considered very carefully by the local council.
“However as result of the way in which the application was dealt with by the council, NAG members were left with the overwhelming impression that the decision was rushed through by West Berkshire with the minimum of discussion in order to suit the interests of AWE.”
More than 940 objections were received by West Berkshire Council over plans to build the new facility at AWE Burghfield, where warheads will be taken apart and assembled.
The new project, called MENSA, will replace the Cold War “gravel gertie” bunkers where the warheads have been assembled for the past 50 years.
Some of the main concerns raised by objectors were that the area is at high risk of flooding and that roads are not good enough to sustain an evacuation if necessary.
The threat of flooding comes from the Burghfield Brook which used to run through AWE but is now diverted around its perimeter and it is feared that if torrential rains hit the area, it could cause the stream to divert to its original path.
When the new building is erected, floor levels will be built a metre above the predicted level that water will rise to during a flood.
The new building will be built inside a reinforced concrete shell designed to be safe from flooding but the electrical sub-station and gatehouse building would still be at slight risk.
West Berkshire Council Executive Councillor for Planning and Housing, Alan Law, said officers at Reading Borough Council were consulted and also said the consultation period was significantly extended over the Christmas period.
He added: “It is crucial to understand that West Berkshire Council, in deciding the planning application, could not under planning legislation, take into account the moral or ethical implications of the work carried out at AWE.”