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Coordinates: 50°52'53?N 1°15'56?W? / ?50.88144, -1.26559
Whiteley is a community in the county of Hampshire, England, near Fareham. The development straddles the boundary between two council districts: the borough of Fareham to the south and west, and the city of Winchester to the north and east.
[edit] Location
Whiteley is located in southern Hampshire between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton and close to the market town of Fareham. The small development of 3,000 homes is situated close to Junction 9 of the M27 motorway, while rail services are provided nearby at Swanwick railway station.
[edit] History
Whiteley contains a residential community, retail and a business park. Construction of the business park started in the mid 1980s and the first houses were completed in the late 1980s, although construction slowed for a few years following a crash in the British residential property market during the mid 1990s. From 1996 construction recommenced and continues today.
Historically, the site now occupied by Whiteley was farmland and coppice. The nearest historical settlements are those of Park Gate situated just south of Swanwick Hill, Little Park to the South and Swanwick to the West. Farms in the local area included Rookery, Yew Tree, Sweethills and Whiteley. The wooded areas in Whiteley were used to provide shelter to troops in the build-up of forces for transportation to northern France in preparation for D-Day during the second world war [1]. This is evidenced by the remains of a War Department water tank on the edge of the Bere Forest to the north of the community.
Part of the M27 motorway constructed to the south of the development was opened in February 1978.
The part of the development which falls in the Winchester district became a civil parish in 2003.
One of the earliest buildings in Whiteley was the Solent Hotel and Spa which was constructed in the early 1990s.
[edit] Whiteley today
Apart from the residential areas, which house around 6,000 residents, the main focus is the Whiteley Village[1] outlet centre (a retail centre not to be confused with 'Whiteley Village' in Walton-on-Thames). This pedestrianised shopping centre consists of a number of discount stores, particularly designer fashions. In September 2007, British Land announced plans to spend upwards of £100m redeveloping Whiteley Village and reconstructing it as a district centre, while also adding housing and a hotel to the area. [2]
Whiteley also contains the sizable Solent Business Park which consists of a number of large offices, including Zurich Financial Services. The most recent and high profile additions to the park are the new headquarters for NATS (formerly National Air Traffic Services) and the offices of ITV Meridian. Development at the business park continues as further offices are constructed.
As with many large new developments the community experienced problems in development owing to a slow provision of local amenities. Today the development boasts a modern and sizeable medical centre including a doctors' practice and pharmacy; a private medical establishment incorporating NHS dentists and a physiotherapy clinic; a local store; food take-away stores; a hairdresser; three pre-schools/nurseries; a community centre; a leisure centre; a sizable recreation ground having football, cricket and tennis provision; numerous children's playparks; a retail outlet including a supermarket, petrol station, a restaurant and cafes; a skate park; a three form entry primary school; and maintained wooded areas.
Some problems persist, including oversubscription of the primary school - proposals for the resolution of which have led to controversy (please search for further information on this issue at the local authorities' websites: [3] [4] ] and a severe lack of adequate public transport.
Further problems arose due to poor implementation of transport infrastructure. The community enjoys only one primary route in and out (via the M27 Junction 9 roundabout), although a controversial secondary route through a residential area is often used by local traffic, as well as commuter traffic travelling to the business park. The construction of further transport links to surrounding major routes are restricted by issues relating to land acquisition (anticipated by compulsory purchase) and associated costs, as well as discussions between local councils and developers over a proposed bus link. As a result of the transport infrastructure the volume of traffic using the M27 Junction 9 roundabout is elevated, although this was partially alleviated by the introduction of traffic controls.
[edit] Demographics
The development has an overwhelmingly young population (79% under 44 years [5]), white (96.95%[6]), home-owning (87.23%[7]) population of professionals and aspirational skilled workers (80% in social grade AB and C1 [8]). Whiteley is reported by the local health authority to have a higher than average rate of divorce and separation (11% versus 6% nationally [9]).
[edit] The future
The area north of Whiteley is included in the South East Plan as a possible urban extension and if the community were to be expanded northwards it would include further residential developments of up to 3,000 houses and associated infrastructure including transport, educational and community facilities.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- , Whiteley Village retail outlet
[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |