The first houses were built 15 years ago and today a community is emerging in Whiteley - but there is still some way to go. Clare Kennedy reports...

MOST communities take hundreds of years to develop with homes, schools and transport links built to meet increasing demand.

Not surprising then that Whiteley should have its fair share of teething problems just 15 years after its first homes were built.

With an over-subscribed school and much-maligned road links the planners behind Hampshire's newest town have come in for some heavy criticism for getting their sums wrong.

Despite this, 97 per cent of Whiteley residents say they enjoy a good quality of life.

Of 500 people questioned in a Hampshire County Council-commissioned survey traffic problems were the main gripe.

With Whiteley Way the only access and exit point into the purpose-built community off junction nine of the M27 congestion at peak time is something residents have learned to live with.

The introduction of traffic lights may have improved the flow but it still seems Whiteley's road system is not coming up to scratch.

Legal wrangling has delayed the completion of the Whiteley Way relief road system which would see it joined up to Botley Road.

It's one of the major drawbacks for county council planners who have £5.2m in the bank from the developers including Pelham Homes, Barratt and Bovis for the scheme.

Landowners say they will only sell their land to build the road if they are paid its development value.

The council was banking on paying the land's agricultural value and is now seeking a change in the law to make it easier for highway authorities to buy land for roads.

But that's little comfort to Whiteley residents who can only hope two other traffic schemes come off the ground.

Planners have mooted a bus-only link along Yew Tree Drive to Botley Road and a through road linking up Rookery Avenue with Botley Road.

Many of the respondents to the council's survey would be more than happy to leave their cars at home with 58 per cent of saying they want better public transport.

Currently Whiteley is served by just two bus routes - the number 26 to Fareham and the number 63 to Havant via Fareham.

With thousands of commuters coming to work every day and another 420,000 square foot of office space planned in the second phase of Solent business Park's expansion the case for more buses is compelling.

The Whiteley Forum, representing businesses, is calling for buses linking Whiteley to Southampton and Portsmouth and a separate slip road from the M27 to the business park.

The forum's chairwoman, Emma Francis, said: "We could have people coming out of their car parks and immediately joining a queue. We want to see change now before it is too late."

The lack of primary school places is also another major concern with 22 per cent of the survey's respondents concerned about inadequate provision.

This year parents of 34 boys and girls lost their appeals after Whiteley Primary denied their children places because it was over subscribed.

While council chiefs at the time put the squeeze on the school's 90 reception places down to a population blip they have now tacitly admitted they got their sums wrong.

They are looking for a new site to build a one form entry school with space to extend it to two forms if necessary.

Latest figures predict by 2005 there will be 150 children chasing the current 90 reception class places.

Even so Whiteley has come a long way from when it was designated a principal growth area along with Chandler's Ford, Totton and Fareham's western wards 20 years ago.

This year alone has seen a new community centre open in Gull Coppice with a thriving parent and toddler group, pre school and activities for older children.

And the Meadowside Leisure Centre has seen the formation of local sports clubs and even hosts evening French classes.

The temporary doctor's surgery in Yew Tree Drive is also set to move into a purpose-built centre next to the community centre, subject to planning permission.

Whiteley's first homes went up in the late 1980s during a time in planning policy when the car reigned supreme.

Straddling two local authority boundaries planners hoped the new community of 2,500 homes would be complete within ten years.

Now, fifteen years later 600 homes are still to go up in the northern part of Whiteley as well as a new 350-home housing estate off Sweethills Crescent.

Little did planners in the early days envisage a protracted dispute with one landowner and a recession with devastating results for the house building industry.

This stalled Whiteley's completion and delayed the opening of Whiteley Primary School, Whiteley Village and the Tesco supermarket.

Steve Opacic, manager of forward planning at Winchester City Council, said despite the setbacks the community is finally taking shape.

"Whiteley is unusual compared to other big developments in Hampshire as it is a free-standing community.

"We are quite pleased now with the range of facilities on offer.

"But there have been problems with the access. At the time Whiteley was planned it was regarded as more of a car-based community."

Sheila Henley, in charge of transport policy at Hampshire County Council says improving road links will be one of the main priorities over the next five years.

Whiteley has a lot to offer - but for residents there's still a long way to go.