Could Aldermaston site house new Reading FC training base?

District councillor for Aldermaston, Irene Neill, said there was talk in the village that the club was eyeing up Aldermaston Manor off Church Road as a potential new home for its raining ground.
The manor (pictured) has played host to a number of events over the years, including the Berkshire Crafts Show, and is currently run as a 33-bedroom hotel and conference centre by Kudos Limited.
Reading FC is keen to gain category one status for its academy but in order to do so will need a bigger facility than its current training base in Aborfield, where the club has been since the start of the 2004/05 season.
Head of communications at Reading FC, Craig Mortimer-Zhika confirmed that “Aldermaston is one of a number of options”, but declined to comment any further.
Aldermaston Manor and Park is currently in administration, but administrators from Smith Williamson confirmed it was trying to sell the site on behalf of landlords, Holaw Limited and Pointvalley Limited.
Associate director at Smith Williamson, Mark Ford, said: “We are looking to sell the site and we are in discussions with a party, but at this stage we cannot say who that party is.”
Vice chairman of Aldermaston Parish Council, Clive Vare, said the football club would be welcomed to the village.
“At our last parish council meeting we were talking about the park; we don’t want it to go derelict so any use of the site would be great.
“My son is a Reading season ticket holder and I know a number of other people connected with the club. Half of the village support Reading and the other half support London Irish (who also play at the Madejski Stadium) so I’m sure the move would be welcomed.”
In 1985 cement manufacturers Blue Circle Industries bought the 137 acres of Aldermaston Park and converted the Grade II manor house into a hotel and conference centre.
The company also built a new headquarters building called Portland House at the site, but relocated the majority of its staff to London in 1988.
Proposals to develop part of Aldermaston Manor, which was built in 1849, to include 38 residential apartments were rejected by the district council and thrown out by the Government planning inspector in 2004.