John Healey MP, Minister of State for Housing and Planning at the Department of Communities and Local Government visited the Dee Park Re-generation Project in Tilehurst today at the invitation of local MP Martin Salter.

Mr Healey attended the Lyon Square Advice Centre at 5.15 pm with Mr Salter and local councillors to talk to tenants and residents about the plans to regenerate their estate.

Dee Park is a 1960s built Radburn estate lying approximately 2 miles from the town centre. The estate comprises circa 1100 households and is in the most deprived 20% of areas nationally. The estate suffers from a poor image and is isolated and poorly connected to wider facilities and opportunities.

Reading Borough Council and the local community have, for several years, recognized the need for a major regeneration programme for the Dee Park estate in order to tackle the problems it faces. The Council has already engaged with the community at a number of stages including the preparation of a Draft Neighbourhood Regeneration Framework, the preparation of a Development Brief for the estate and in the selection of a developer to carry out the regeneration.