Whiteley

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Whiteley
Hampshire UK location map.svg
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Whiteley
Location within Hampshire
Population3,236 (2011 Census) [1]
OS grid reference SU517093
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town FAREHAM
Postcode district PO15
Dialling code 01489
Police Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Fire Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Ambulance South Central
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Hampshire
50°52′51″N1°15′59″W / 50.8809°N 1.2665°W / 50.8809; -1.2665

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.

Contents

Location

Whiteley 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.

History

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, 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

Whiteley children's train at Easter Whiteley.png
Whiteley children's train at Easter

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.

Demographics

The 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 future

The 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]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hampshire</span> County of England

Hampshire is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, Dorset to the west, and Wiltshire to the north-west. The city of Southampton is the largest settlement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterlooville</span> Town in Hampshire, England

Waterlooville is a town in the Borough of Havant in Hampshire, England, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) north northeast of Portsmouth. It is the largest town in the borough. The town had a population of 64,350 in the 2011 Census. It is surrounded by Purbrook, Blendworth, Cowplain, Lovedean, Clanfield, Catherington, Crookhorn, Denmead, Hambledon, Horndean and Widley. It forms part of the South Hampshire conurbation. The town formed around the old A3 London to Portsmouth road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Hamble</span> River in south Hampshire, England

The River Hamble in south Hampshire, England, rises near Bishop's Waltham and flows for 10.1 km (6.3 mi) through Botley, Bursledon, and Lower Swanwick before entering Southampton Water between Hamble Common and Warsash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fareham</span> Market town in Hampshire, England

Fareham is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufacturer of bricks, used to build the Royal Albert Hall, and grower of strawberries and other seasonal fruits. In 2011 it had a population of 42,210.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M27 motorway</span> Motorway in Hampshire, England

The M27 is a motorway in Hampshire, England. It is 27.9 miles (44.9 km) long and runs between Cadnam and Portsmouth. It was opened in stages between 1975 and 1983, providing the largest two urban areas in Hampshire with a direct motorway link. An extension into the county of West Sussex was planned but never constructed. A number of smaller motorways were proposed, connecting the city centres of Southampton and Portsmouth to the motorway; of these only the M271 and M275 were built. Three sections of the M27 have since been widened to four lanes each way, the first between junctions 7 and 8, the second between junctions 3 and 4, and the third begins at the slip road where junction 11 joins until mid-way to junction 12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portchester</span> Village and parish in Hampshire, England

Portchester is a village in the borough of Fareham in Hampshire, England. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Portsmouth and around 18 miles east of Southampton on the A27 road. Its population according to the 2011 United Kingdom census was 17,789.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Winchester</span> Place in England

Winchester, or the City of Winchester, is a local government district with city status in Hampshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest of Bere</span>

The Forest of Bere is a mixed-use partially forested area in Hampshire immediately north of Fareham, Portsmouth and Roman Road, Havant and including a small part of the South Downs National Park.

Swanwick is a village in Hampshire, England, east of the River Hamble and north of the M27 motorway. The village is located within the borough of Fareham and is the site of the London Area Control Centre (LACC) and the London Terminal Control Centre (LTCC), part of National Air Traffic Services Air Traffic Control Centre, and Bursledon Brickworks, the last remaining example of a Victorian steam-powered brickworks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hedge End</span> Neighbourhood of Eastleigh, Hampshire, England

Hedge End is a town and civil parish in Hampshire, England. Situated to the east of the City of Southampton, it adjoins the districts of West End and Botley. Hedge End lies within the Borough of Eastleigh and is part of the Southampton Urban Area. The original hamlet developed on Botley Common after 1250 when it was granted to the men of Botley as common pasture. In 1267, royal charters allowed Botley to hold an annual fair and a weekly market on the common which eventually became a market town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Hampshire</span> Conurbation in Hampshire, southern England

South Hampshire is a term used mainly to refer to the conurbation formed by the city of Portsmouth, city of Southampton and the non-metropolitan boroughs of Gosport, Fareham, Havant and Eastleigh in southern Hampshire, South East England. The area was estimated to have a population of over 1.5 million in 2013. It is the most populated part of South East England excluding London. The area is sometimes referred to as Solent City particularly in relation to local devolution, but the term is controversial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warsash</span> Village and parish in Hampshire, England

Warsash is a village in southern Hampshire, England, situated at the mouth of the River Hamble, west of the area known as Locks Heath and south of Sarisbury. Boating plays an important part in the village's economy, and the village has a sailing club. It is also home to the Warsash Maritime Academy, part of Southampton Solent University, which provides training for Merchant Navy Officers from around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burridge</span> Village in Hampshire, England

Burridge is a small village in the Borough of Fareham, south of Hampshire, England. It lies approximately 14 miles south of Winchester on the A3051 between Botley and Park Gate. It is also to the north of Sarisbury and to the west of Whiteley. The village was formerly known as Caiger's Green, but the name Burridge became more popular as the village grew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park Gate</span> Village in Hampshire, England

Park Gate is a village in the Fareham district in Hampshire, England. It borders Locks Heath to the south, Segensworth to the east and Sarisbury to the west. Park Gate has two churches, Duncan Road Church and St Margaret Mary R.C. It also has three takeaway shops.

Segensworth is a business park near Whiteley and Fareham in Hampshire in England. At the 2011 Census the business park was included in the Park Gate Ward of Fareham Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solent Arena</span> Sports venue in Fareham, Hampshire, England

Solent Arena was an indoor arena, in Fareham, Hampshire. It was located alongside River Wallington by the M27 motorway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in South Hampshire</span> Transport network serving South Hampshire

South Hampshire is the term used to refer to the conurbation formed by the city of Portsmouth, city of Southampton and the non-metropolitan boroughs between them. As a result of the area's high population density, it has a developed public transport network. However, due to the area being controlled by different Authorities, most notably Southampton City Council, Portsmouth City Council and Hampshire County Council, there is little coordination of the system.

References

  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  2. "£100m cash to give town a new heart". The News. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
  3. "The Winchester (Parishes) Order 2003" (PDF).
  4. "About". Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 "Key Figures for 2001 Census (Whiteley)". Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 11 July 2008.
  6. "Approximated Social Grade (Whiteley)". Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 11 July 2008.
  7. "Marital Status (Whiteley)". Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 11 July 2008.
  8. "North Whiteley". winchester.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2023.