ARCHAEOLOGISTS will be digging up areas of Palmer Park soon, following plans to potentially expand the sports centre were announced.

Teams from the Berkshire Archaeology and Thames Valley Archaeology will be surveying the site on Wokingham Road, Reading, to record the landscape of the area where the council plans to build on.

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The dig, set to take place from March 15, is part of a process following a planning application sent to Reading Borough Council in December last year.

The application is hoping to allow for improvements to leisure facilities at Palmer Park.

Reading Chronicle:

Cllr Graeme Hoskin, Reading’s Lead Councillor for Sport, said: “We are working proactively with Berkshire Archaeology, the statutory planning consultee on archaeology matters within the county, to ensure Palmer Park has a thorough archaeological survey.

"It will be fascinating to see what historical information the survey will reveal about how the land was used in the past.

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"The site investigation work taking place in mid-March and forms part of the pre-work contributing to the planning application for the new community swimming pool and associated new facilities on this site.

"We anticipate the preparation work and archaeological survey will last around a week."

For more information on the planning application, visit planning.reading.gov.uk/fastweb_PL/welcome.asp.