Whiteley
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Whiteley is a new town in the county of Hampshire, England, near Fareham. The town straddles two council districts: the borough of Fareham to the south and the City of Winchester to the North and East.
Construction of the town started around 1990 to help alleviate housing problems across the South-East of England. The first houses were completed in the early 1990s, although construction halted for a period of five or more years following a crash in the British residential property market during the mid 1990s. From 1996 construction recommenced and continues today.
The part of the town which falls in the Winchester City district became a civil parish in 2003.
The town is situated just off Junction 9 of the M27 motorway. Apart from the residential areas, which house around 6,000 residents, the main focus is the Whiteley Village outlet centre [1]. This pedestrianised shopping centre consists of a number of discount stores, particularly designer fashions.
One of the earliest buildings in Whiteley is the Solent Hotel and Spa which was constructed in the early 1990s. This large hotel and associated public house are frequented by famous celebrities and sports teams visiting the Portsmouth and Southampton areas.
Whiteley also contains the sizeable Solent Business Park which consists of a number of large offices, including Zurich Financial Services and Lloyds TSB. The most recent and high profile additions to the park are the new headquarters for National Air Traffic Services and the offices of ITV Meridian. Development at the business part continues as further offices are constructed and a new car dealership is planned on land opposite the hotel.
The town has been plagued by problems owing to a lack of planning for local amenities. Consequently, there is an over-subscribed primary school, medical facilities are provided from a portakabin and there are few local shops. These problems are being addressed by the construction of a new primary school, a town centre having medical facilities, shops and a community centre. Additionally, a new state-of-the-art doctor's surgery is due to be constructed in 2006.
Further problems arise due to poor planning of the local transport infrastructure. The town 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. The construction of further transport links to surrounding major routes are restricted by issues surrouding land acquisition (anticipated by compulsory purchase) and associated costs. Consequently, during rush hour, much traffic congestion is experienced on and around the M27 Junction 9 roundabout, although this has been largely alleviated by the introduction of well designed traffic controls.