Smallmead Tip
SpecialLiquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Smallmead Tip is a historic (closed) landfill site recorded by the Environment Agency near Reading, Reading. It received special (hazardous), liquid/sludge, industrial, household, commercial and inert waste between 1972 and 1981, covering about 1.33 hectares. Reference EAHLD32400, October 2025 data revision.
Full record
| EA reference | EAHLD32400 |
|---|---|
| Site name | Smallmead Tip |
| Address | Smallmead Road, Reading, Berkshire |
| Site operator | County Borough of Reading |
| Licence holder | Berkshire County Council WDA |
| Licence issued | 6 September 1977 |
| Licence surrendered | 31 March 1981 |
| First waste input | 22 March 1972 |
| Last waste input | 31 March 1981 |
| Area | 1.33 ha |
| Gas control | Not recorded |
| Leachate containment | Not recorded |
| Licensed site | Yes |
| EA area | West TH |
| Grid reference | 470900, 170100 |
Source: Environment Agency Historic Landfill Sites dataset, October 2025 revision.
Boundary map
What these waste types mean
- Special:
- the licensing-era term for hazardous waste — asbestos, chemicals, oils. The category that most warrants a closer look.
- Liquid / sludge:
- liquid wastes and sludges, such as sewage sludge or industrial effluent. Can be mobile in groundwater, so worth understanding.
- Industrial:
- factory and process waste. Contents vary widely — some benign, some not; the site's operator and era are the clues.
- Household:
- everyday domestic refuse. Decomposes and can generate landfill gas for a few decades after closure.
- Commercial:
- waste from shops and offices — paper, packaging, food. Similar profile to household waste, usually less of it.
- Inert:
- builder's rubble, subsoil, concrete, brick. Doesn't decompose or generate gas; the lowest-concern category.
Other historic landfill sites nearby
- Smallmead StadiumInert
- Sludge BedsWaste types not recorded
- Island Road TipLiquid / sludgeIndustrialCommercialInert
- Manor FarmInert
- Island RoadInert
- Gilette WarehouseLiquid / sludgeHouseholdCommercial
What this data does — and doesn't — cover
- Licensed-era records only. Waste licensing began in 1974. Older tips — especially small pre-war ones — are incompletely recorded, so absence from this data does not mean no landfill ever existed here.
- Not the contaminated-land register. Councils hold a separate register of land determined as contaminated. A historic landfill entry is not a contamination determination, and vice versa.
- Boundaries are indicative. Digitised at 1:10,000 scale; some are buffers around a point rather than surveyed edges.
- Not a substitute for a formal environmental search. If you're buying, your conveyancer's environmental search checks this and several other sources.
EA Historic Landfill dataset, October 2025 revision. More on the methodology page.