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Whiteley
Whiteley is a planned community of 6,500 homes in the county of Hampshire, England, United Kingdom near Fareham. The development straddles the boundary between two council districts: the Borough of Fareham to the south and east, and the City of Winchester to the north and west. LocationWhiteley is located in southern Hampshire between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton and close to the market town of Fareham. The development is situated close to Junction 9 of the M27 motorway. Rail services are provided from Swanwick railway station to the south - services between London Victoria/Portsmouth and Southampton via Hamble, or Botley railway station to the north - services between London Waterloo and Portsmouth via Eastleigh. Buses and cycle tracks interconnect the town with the two stations. HistoryHistorically, 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, Swanwick to the West, Botley and Curdridge to the North. Farm land taken over by the initial development included Rookery, Yew Tree, Sweethills and Whiteley. North Whiteley development was based on land released by Bury, Bridge and Barn Farms. Barn Farmhouse in North Whiteley is listed by Historic England as a C17 timber frame house with a C18 extension. 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. 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. In the early 1980s Hampshire County Council developed draft proposals for land north of what was then known as the western wards of Fareham. The new community was to be known as Whiteley after the name of the farm that lay in the centre of the development area. This development comprised 3,300 houses 16,500 m2 of offices and 7,500 m2 of retail, plus a community centre and a junior school. Construction of the Solent 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.[when?] One of the earliest buildings in Whiteley was the Solent Hotel and Spa which was constructed in the early 1990s. 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] The Whiteley village Outlet was demolished in Autumn 2011 (finishing by November 2011), with the exception of the medium-sized Tesco supermarket. The new development was opened in 2013. In July 2018 Winchester District Council approved an outline planning application for a further development, North Whiteley consisting of 3,500 residences with provision for 2 junior schools and a senior school, plus 3 new routes linking Whiteley to Botley Road. This development should be largely complete by 2027. The part of the development which falls in the Winchester district became a civil parish in 2003.[3] Whiteley was recognised as a Parish in Portsmouth Diocese in 2021. Hope Church Whiteley began as the town first became established about 25 years ago, within people's homes. It moved to the Community Centre in Gull Coppice before, in 2021, it moved to its new building at Cornerstone School. It is a multicultural, intergenerational church. Whiteley today Apart from the residential areas, which house around 10,000 residents, the main focus is the Whiteley Shopping Centre, an open air pedestrianised mall https://www.whiteleyshopping.co.uk/ (not to be confused with 'Whiteley Village' in Walton-on-Thames). Stores include Marks & Spencer, Next plc, Boots, WH Smith and many other common High Street names but there are also other units that were specifically earmarked for local enterprises. Parking is available for 1500 vehicles and is free for the first 4 hours and after 6pm.[4] In 2015 a new leisure complex adjacent to Whiteley Shopping opened, providing a nine-screen cinema and a further five restaurants. Whiteley also contains the Solent Business Park which consists of a number of large companies, including Zurich Financial Services, the new headquarters for NATS (formerly National Air Traffic Services) and the offices and studios 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 has a modern and sizeable medical centre including a doctors' practice and pharmacy; a private medical establishment incorporating and a physiotherapy clinic; a local store; food take-away stores; a hairdresser; three pre-schools/nurseries; a community centre; a leisure centre; a recreation ground having football and cricket provision; children's playgrounds; a supermarket and petrol station a skate park; a three-form entry primary school; and maintained wooded areas. Despite this, basic services you'd expect from a modern development (and still growing with an additional 3000 homes currently being built) are still very poor - the area suffers from an appalling mobile signal service across all networks, and despite promises of new masts being erected spanning several years, this has yet to happen. Although, as mentioned above, Whiteley does indeed have a GP Surgery, they are part of a larger group (Meon Health Practice), which is massively under-resourced and cannot cope with demand - it is virtually impossible to get an appointment, and the surgery was voted 6th worst in the country in a recent poll. Whiteley did have a NHS dentist, however service levels dropped significantly through Covid, and never recovered - the surgery first went private only, and then closed in the second half of 2024. There have been promises of a secondary school to be built for many years also, and it looks as though this may finally be happening with a proposed opening date of 2027 - at present, the children of Whiteley have to commute to school on a 25 minute bus journey to Henry Cort in Fareham, or Swanmore. Finally, the transport links in and out of Whiteley are very poor - up until recently there was just one main route both in and out, which was always congested at rush hour, but thankfully two new routes have been opened as part of the new housing development... unfortunately however a bad road design combined with never-ending roadworks result in lengthy queues and traffic coming to Whiteley from the M27 - especially at rush hour, lunchtimes, weekends and public holidays such as Christmas. DemographicsThe development has an overwhelmingly young population (79% under 44 years[5]), white (96.95%[5]), home-owning (87.23%[5]) population of professionals and aspirational skilled workers (80% in social grade AB and C1[6]). Whiteley is reported by the local health authority to have a higher than average rate of divorce and separation (11% versus 6% nationally[7]). The futureThe area north of Whiteley was included in the South East Plan as a possible urban extension and when the community is expanded northwards it will include further residential developments of 3,500 houses and associated infrastructure including transport, educational and community facilities.[8] References
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