How much will the AWE Aldermaston build cost West Berkshire in consultants?

By Niki Hinman Local Democracy Reporter, 19 October 2026, https://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/questions-raised-over-council-ability-to-approve-nuclear-wea-9487315/

Questions over West Berkshire Council’s ability to scrutinise forthcoming planning applications into a multi-billion pound upgrade to AWE Aldermaston have been raised.

The plans are likely to cost the authority tens of thousands of pounds in specialist consultants to evaluate the proposal to upgrade the nuclear weapons facility into a state-of-the-art science park.

The council will have to handle the massive application in the coming weeks, and has said it will need specialist help to deal with it.

The Government’s £15bn defence investment is dedicated specifically to the UK’s nuclear warhead programme as a whole – which encompasses both the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Aldermaston and its sister site at Burghfield.

Security-cleared consultants working on defence or submarine programmes command a notable market premium.

A Google search puts them upwards of £1,000 per day.

The nuclear weapons factory is soon to submit plans described as ‘being on the scale of London 2012 in complexity’ to the authority, which must then figure out whether they pass planning policies.

The person leading the project from the AWE side is Andrew McNaughton CBE – a prominent British civil engineer.

He led on delivering key components for the London 2012 Olympics and is on record as saying the Future Materials Campus is on the same scale.

The matter came up before West Berkshire Council last night (Thursday).

“Government-funded plans for the multi-billion pound Future Materials Campus (FMC) at AWE’s Aldermaston site will see planning applications coming forward soon,” said Dominic Boeck (Con, Aldermaston).

“How will the council support and engage constructively with residents, local councils and businesses on this enormous development?

“AWE have compared the scale and complexity of the proposed FMC development with London 2012

“What specific assurance can the lead member give that council has sufficient planning, emergency planning and other relevant technical resources and expertise to undertake a thorough and independent assessment of the application, including its implications for residential safety, emergency preparedness and amenity within and around the Aldermaston DEPZ?”

Deputy council leader Denise Gaines (Lib Dem, Hungerford and Kintbury) said: “We take the safety of residents and people at AWE very seriously.

“The anticipated planning application is going through the process.

“At this stage of the proposal it is a pre application.

“This is a confidential part of the process between council officers and the applicant.

“This sets out a clear timetable for a major and complex application.

“As with any planning application it will be assessed by a team of qualified professionals to ensure that all relvant technical and environmental matters are considered and evaluated either in house or by specialist external consultants.”

There is a statement of community involvement.

And the consultation will involve talks with the council’s emergency planning service and the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

“My concern and my community’s concern is the scale of this project,” added Mr Boeck.

“Of course we understand it is a matter of national security, but there are concerns about how this multi-billion pound project will impact us here.

“I appreciate much will be done behind the wire, but the trucks have got to roll.”

When local authorities deal with ‘enormous’ or hyper-scale planning applications like the London 2012 Olympic Games or major urban regenerations, the standard local planning mechanisms are usually adapted, bypassed, or heavily augmented.

Because these applications are far too large, complex, and politically sensitive for a standard local authority planning department to process normally, they are managed through a combination of special purpose vehicles, and strategic planning frameworks