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Minerals and waste

Minerals and waste

Joint Central and Eastern Berkshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan

Wokingham Borough Council, Bracknell Forest Council, Reading Borough Council and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (collectively referred to as ‘Central and Eastern Berkshire Authorities’) are working together to produce a Joint Minerals and Waste Plan which will guide minerals and waste decision-making in the area.

The Joint Minerals and Waste Plan will build on previous minerals and waste plans for the Berkshire area. It will set out a new vision and replace the current policies and provide details of strategic sites that will deliver the vision.

Latest news

The Joint Minerals and Waste Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State in February 2021. To date, four days of hearing sessions have been held in late September and October 2021. Following the hearing sessions, the Central and Eastern Berkshire Authorities have been given the opportunity to propose modifications to the submitted Joint Minerals and Waste Plan, in order to make it legally compliant.

Consultation on the proposed Main Modifications to the plan was undertaken for six weeks from Monday 28 February to 5pm on Monday 11 April 2022. The purpose of the consultation was to seek feedback from statutory consultees, stakeholders, communities, local organisations and businesses on the proposed modifications only to the submitted plan. 

All comments relating to the Main Modifications will be submitted to the Inspectors via the Programme Officer. The Inspectors will consider the comments received and decide whether any further hearings are necessary, or if any issues need to be revisited. The Inspectors will then present their final conclusion in a report. If the report concludes that the Plan is 'sound', the Central and Eastern Berkshire Authorities can adopt the Plan, subject to making the Modifications identified.  

Earlier stages

The Joint Plan will replace the adopted minerals and waste plans for the Berkshire area, based on up-to-date evidence of the current levels of provision for minerals and waste facilities in the Plan area. Importantly, the Plan aims to establish the future levels of provision required to meet national and regional policy targets and objectives. 

To date, several information gathering consultations have been completed to inform the Plan between 2017 and 2020. Details of these can be found under the tabs below.

When government guidance and regulations allow, hard copies of the documents will be available at Wokingham Borough Council, Shute End, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 1WP.

Get involved

The Programme Officer will act as the contact for any person who has an interest in the Examination and as a liaison between the Inspector, Council and Representors. They are an independent Officer of the Examination and work on behalf of the Inspector to organise and manage the administrative and procedural elements of the Examination process. 

Any queries people may have regarding the Examination process or matters they wish to raise with the Inspector should be submitted via the Programme Officer.

The Programme Officer's details may be found on the Joint Minerals and Waste Plan website. 

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Two Planning Inspectors, Rachel A Bust (Lead Inspector) and Nicholas Palmer, were appointed to undertake an independent examination of the soundness of the Plan. The Matters, Issues and Questions from the Planning Inspectors are discussed and considered through hearing sessions. To date, four days of hearing sessions have been held as outlined below:

  • 28, 29, 30 September 2021 - The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Offices, Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1RF
  • 12 October 2021 - virtual hearing

Following the hearing sessions, the Central and Eastern Berkshire Authorities were given the opportunity to propose modifications to the submitted Joint Minerals and Waste Plan, in order to make it sound and legally compliant.

Consultation on the proposed Main Modifications to the submitted plan was undertaken for six weeks, between Monday 28 February and 5pm on Monday 11 April 2022.

Visit the Joint Minerals and Waste Plan website for full details of the consultation, including: 

  • The Joint Plan and all supporting documentation
  • Recordings of the hearing sessions
  • Further information about the process


All comments relating to the Main Modifications to the Joint Minerals and Waste Plan will be submitted to the Inspectors via the Programme Officer. The Inspectors will consider all comments received and decide whether any further hearings are necessary, or if any issues need to be revisited. The Inspectors will then present their final conclusion in a report. If the report concludes that the Plan is 'sound', the Central and Eastern Berkshire Authorities can adopt the Plan, subject to making the modifications identified.


On Thursday 25 February 2021 the Central and Eastern Berkshire Authorities submitted the Joint Minerals and Waste Plan and supporting documents for independent examination.

The Proposed Submission Plan was consulted on for six weeks, between 3 September and 15 October 2020. The purpose of this consultation was to consider compliance with all legal requirements, including the Duty to Co-operate, and soundness. 

The Proposed Submission Plan, the evidence base and all representations received have been submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination under Regulation 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended).  

The Proposed Submission Documents are available to view on the Joint Minerals and Waste Plan website.

The most recent Focused Regulation 18 Consultation: Sand and Gravel Provision and Operator Performance ('the Focused Consultation') ran for six weeks, beginning on 11 February and closing at 5pm on 23 March 2020.

The purpose of the Focused Consultation was to seek feedback from statutory consultees, stakeholders, communities, local organisations and businesses on the proposed Area of Search, the potential new sites (Land West of Basingstoke Road, Spencers Wood and Area between Horton Brook and Poyle Quarry) and Policy DM15 (Past Operator Performance).

Thank you to all who responded to the this focused consultation.  

Read the Joint Central and Eastern Berkshire Focused Regulation 18 Consultation summary report (PDF document) which details the outcomes of the consultation.

The Central and Eastern Berkshire Authorities have carried out three 'Call for Sites' exercises in support of the Minerals and Waste Plan. A 'Call for Sites' process involves asking landowners and mineral and waste site operators to put forward site proposals for consideration for mineral and waste uses. Hampshire County Council asked mineral and waste site operators and land owners to put forward site proposals for consideration for minerals and waste uses. This includes any aspirations for existing sites to either extend or widen the range of operations or facilities.

An original 'Call for Sites' was carried out between 13 March to 5 May 2017, a second call ran from 23 November 2018 to 11 January 2019, and a third from 9 October to 22 November 2019. The further rounds of consultation were to seek nominations for additional land, which had not previously been submitted, to be considered for future minerals and waste operations in the Plan area.

A Draft Joint Minerals and Waste Plan was subject to consultation during the Summer 2018. The Draft Plan (formerly referred to as Preferred Options) is the second stage in plan-preparation. The purpose of this consultation was to engage the community in discussion on the long term management of minerals and waste. It was also an opportunity to gather more local evidence to determine the plan policies and site allocations.

The Draft Plan consultation ran from Monday 6 August 2018 to Friday 12 October 2018.

To see all the consultation documents and the Draft Plan consultation summary, visit the Joint Minerals and Waste Plan website.

The Issues and Options consultation sought to engage the community in discussion on the issues for managing minerals and waste for the next 20 years. It was also an opportunity to gather more evidence to inform the Options for the plan policies and site allocations.

The Issues and Options consultation ran for six weeks, from 9 June 2017 to 5pm 21 July 2017. Hampshire Services, (part of Hampshire County Council working in collaboration with the Central and Eastern Berkshire Authorities) ran the consultation and details can be found on the Joint Minerals and Waste Plan website. 

This is the Local Aggregate Assessment (LAA) 2018 (PDF document) for Central and Eastern Berkshire and covers the administrative areas of the plan-making partners (Bracknell Forest Council, Reading Borough Council, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham Borough Council). In addition, information has been provided for Slough, where available. The purpose of the LAA is to detail the current and predicted situation in Central and Eastern Berkshire with respect to all aspects of aggregate supply.

The previous LAA is available below:

The report includes information on remaining allocations in the Replacement Minerals Local Plan for Berkshire. It also puts the findings in the context of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (PDF document) and Guidance on the Managed Aggregates Supply System (MASS) (PDF document.)

Monitoring reports

See the monitoring reports below:

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