Tadley housing development delay
No construction work at new site next to AWE Aldermaston until middle of 2012
CONSTRUCTION work on a major housing development in Tadley, next to AWE, Aldermaston is unlikely to start
until the middle of next year, owing to red tape surrounding permitted planning permission.
Five months ago, the Government gave the go-ahead to Cala Homes to develop the Boundary Hall site, including demolishing the existing hall, relocating the existing
substation and redeveloping the land to provide almost 1,000 square metres of commercial space, 115 properties, new public open space, car parking, new footpaths, landscaping, two new access roads off Almswood Road and improvements to the existing access point off Aldermaston
Road.
Although planning permission was given in June, in a statement this week Cala said there were many different
aspects which had to be considered before work could take place.
The site lies 500 metres from the boundary of the nuclear weapons establishment, which provides and maintains warheads for Britain's nuclear deterrent Trident.
The application took months to get approval, owing to concerns raised by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, which led to a public inquiry in October 2010.
The inspectorate said that population levels within the inner Detailed Emergency Planning Zone, the area within
a 3km distance from AWE and which would have to be evacuated in the event of an emergency, was already at maximum limits and additional housing could affect
the speed at which emergency services could be deployed.
However the Government rejected the planning inspector's recommendation to refuse the application on the grounds that the chance of any nuclear incident occurring at the site were “extremely remote” and outweighed by other considerations, such as the need for increased housing
(including affordable housing), employment opportunities and improvement of the site.
Among those eager for work to start at the Boundary Hall site are Tadley Scouts.
Currently located in a hut on the site, a developers' contribution of £121,125 towards a new Scout building is in the offing.
