Whiteley Town Council

News for April 2025

Nicki Oliver
April 02, 2025

Whiteley Town Council

News for April 2025

Contact Town Clerk Nicki Oliver

tel 07961 213750

[email protected]

www.whiteleytowncouncil.gov.uk

Whiteley Town Council serves the Winchester District area of Whiteley, maintaining Meadowside Recreation Ground and the numerous play areas. The Town Council will also be managing the woodlands, sports pitches, allotments, play areas, open spaces and community centre in the new development in due course.

New path from Curbridge Way to Ridge Lane

Town Council meetings

All are welcome to attend council meetings which are held in our offices on the first floor of Meadowside Leisure Centre.

Meeting dates are on the council’s website along with agendas and minutes.

Upcoming meeting dates:

7pm Wednesday 16th April Committees

7.15pm Monday 12th May (Annual Meeting)

Meet the Town Council staff

All the council’s staff work part time but will respond as quickly as possible during their working hours.

Town Clerk Nicki Oliver

Town Clerk Nicki Oliver manages the day to day running of the council and its facilities. You are welcome to contact Nicki if you have any questions about life in Whiteley.

Contact [email protected] tel 07961 213750

Community Safety Officer Sarah McCulloch

Community Safety Officer Sarah McCulloch is out keeping our community safe and building relationships with schools, our young people and the wider community.

If you have any concerns please do not hesitate to contact Sarah.

Follow Sarah on her Facebook page Whiteley CSO

Contact [email protected] tel 07863 036714

Community Development Officer Katie Mattingly

Community Development Officer Katie Mattingly has just joined the council and will be working with residents in the new development to deliver new initiatives, events and activities to support the growing community.

Contact [email protected]

Communications Officer Leah Scott

Leah is managing the council’s social media presence and communications to improve residents’ access to local information. Leah has made a great start and the reach and engagement on our Town Council Facebook page is increasing rapidly. If you have a Whiteley event or small business you would like to promote please get in touch.

Contact [email protected]

Planning Co-ordinator Hilary Oliver

Hilary has joined us from Winchester City Council to oversee the work of the developers as they prepare the play areas, sports pitches and open spaces for handover to the Town Council. Hilary has an in depth knowledge of the new development and is invaluable to the Town Council and all the new residents.

Contact [email protected]

Town Council events in 2025

Our events calendar kicks off on Sunday 6th April with our Big Clean Up

We know litter and dog poo are the cause of many complaints. Can you help keep your neighbourhood clean and tidy?

Town Council Events Calendar for 2025

Meon Valley Foodbank

If you are in need of short term help with food and basic household supplies a confidential referral can by made by our Community Safety Officer Sarah McCulloch

Contact [email protected] tel 07863 036714

Winchester District Citizens Advice

To contact Citizens Advice use this link https://citizensadvicewinchester.org.uk/get-advice/

Home Start Hampshire

Home-Start helps families who are experiencing difficulties in their lives by providing well trained volunteers to give support and friendship. Volunteers work on a one-to-one basis with each family.

Contact Home Start https://home-starthampshire.org.uk/contact-us/

Park yoga

The Town Council is delighted to host free yoga sessions again on Meadowside Recreation Ground

Whiteley Health Walks

Winchester City Council works with Community First to offer weekly heath walks in Whiteley. If you would like to join a walk meet outside Meadowside Leisure Centre at 2pm on Wednesday afternoons.

If you would be interested in running a health walk please contact Calum Drummond [email protected]

parkrun

Whiteley parkrun takes place at 9am every Saturday morning on Meadowside Recreation Ground. New participants and volunteers always welcomed.

www.facebook.com/whiteleyparkrun

Do you need transport between home and hospital?

The Friends of Fareham Community Hospital are looking for volunteer drivers, could you help?

North Whiteley update meeting 17th March 2025

The Town Council has taken on the role of updating residents on progress in North Whiteley from Winchester City Council and held its first meeting for residents on 17th March 2025 at Cornerstone School.

A short update presentation was followed by the opportunity to ask questions of the developers.

A copy of the presentation is on this link

Responses to residents’ questions are on this link

Briefly, 2,171 are now occupied with a further 487 under construction.

The ‘offsite’ work to widen Whiteley Way is progressing as programmed with a target completion in the spring/summer of 2026.

The bus service is running but demand has proved to be very low.

Transfer of Allotment 1 to the Town Council - legal work has begun; work on Allotment sites 2 & 3 has started and should be completed by the end of 2025. The legal work to transfer the sites to the Town Council is progressing but we don’t have a handover date yet.

Transfer of the play areas and green infrastructure to the Town Council - legal work has begun and is waiting for the developers to action.

Flagpond play area and Whiteley Gardens are both open for use but need further work before they can be handed over, this has all been programmed in.

Two further play areas are due to be provided with an anticipated start in April 2026.

The completed open spaces are being maintained by the Consortium. Bins have been installed with a further six dog waste bins due to be installed in the next three years.

Transfer of the sports pitches and changing pavilions to the Town Council - work has begun on the first pitch site and a planning application for the north east site has been submitted.

The temporary community building has been named Barn Farm Community Centre by the residents. There are lots of activities happening at the centre, check out the website https://barnfarm.org.uk

Construction of the permanent community building is due to begin in the summer.

Completion of Footpath 9 which provides pedestrian and cycle access to Cornerstone School - complex technical issues have recently been resolved. The legal work is complete and is with the Consortium for signing. A start date is awaited. The delays in completing this path are a source of great frustration for the Town Council and school community. The Town Council Chair has written to the managing directors of the companies involved for the second time to express concerns.

Parking restrictions on Bluebell Way and around Cornerstone School - proposals for parking restrictions and additional pedestrian safety measures on Bluebell Way have been agreed with the developers and the Town Council awaits their installation.

Clearing the completed green spaces, balancing ponds and Whiteley Way of builders rubbish - there has been good progress and completed areas are now subject to a maintenance programme undertaken by the developers.

Hangman’s Copse and Sawpit Copse are open and the accessible paths are being very well used.

The pavement and cycle path from Whiteley Way to Botley Station is complete and good progress is being made with connecting up the streetlights which should be operational from April 2025.

Installation of additional bins - three extra roadside bins have been installed in Whiteley Way and Curbridge Way. The developers have completed the installation of bins in the southern section of the development and the bins for the northern area are starting to be added.

There is interest in both the northern and southern retail centres and it is hoped that buyers will be secured shortly. Work on the northern centre could start in late 2025 with an anticipated nine month construction period.

Residents raised concerns about speeding construction traffic and cars, safety around the school, pedestrian safety generally, unsociable parking, dog poo and litter issues, grounds maintenance of Winchester City Council areas.

Tynefield Caravan Park

For some years the Town Council has been reporting the never ending flytipping at the entrance to Tynefield Caravan Park. From time to time it is cleared by local people or by Winchester City Council’s contractors but the area remains a blight on one an otherwise attractive rural entrance to Whiteley.

The Town Council asked Winchester City Council to impose a s215 notice on the landowner to force them to clear up the site. This is the response

S215 of the Town and Country Planning Act allows a notice to be served to require a site to be cleaned up when its condition adversely affects the amenity of the area. The test here is whether there is a public amenity harm affecting the condition of neighbouring land and buildings. WCC would not be able to serve a s215 notice given the site’s location and geography.

Not in Winchester’s backyard so not a problem!

Allotments

There are four allotment sites planned for the new development; Allotment 1 has been completed and we are pleased to say that the legal work to transfer the site to the Town Council has begun! There’s no time scale for completion at the moment.

Allotment 2 is expected to be ready for transfer to the Town Council at the end of 2025. A contractor has been appointed for Allotment 3 and work has begun.

You can view the location of the four sites on this link

We are keeping a list of people interested in an allotment, if you would like to be added please use this link

When there is an update on the handover of the allotments we will arrange a meeting for those interested in setting up a management group.

If you would be interested in helping with setting up a community growing area at Barn Farm Community Centre please contact Katie [email protected]

Plans for a new secondary school

The Town Council has been assured that the school will be completed in time for the September 2027 intake.

A decision on whether Henry Cort moves to the new site is still awaited. It will be made by the Executive Lead Members for Children’s Services Decision Day on 22nd April 2025.

Follow the process on this link

Plans for a new SLD school in Bader Way, Whiteley

The Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed Hampshire County Council can deliver the new special school, to be called Windmill Academy.

Windmill Academy will teach 135 pupils aged 4 to 19 with severe learning difficulties (SLD) from September 2028. It will be developed on the site previously occupied by Cornerstone C of E Primary School.

Botley Bypass

Many Whiteley residents are held up at the Pinkmead junction on their way to and from work.

Funding has been approved to complete the Botley bypass which will include a roundabout at this junction. Work is due to start in the spring of 2025.

Follow the developments on this link

Barn Farm Community Centre

There are all sorts of activities happening at Barn Farm, check out the website to find out more. If you’ve not visited Louleigh’s Sweet Treats pop up coffee stall you are in for a treat. A great destination for a Wednesday, Friday or Saturday wander. Look out for extended opening hours as the days lengthen.

Kayleigh and Louise will be delighted if you visit, also they both absolutely love dogs! Some dog play socials are being planned as I type!

On the last Friday of the month why not try Food Truck Fridays!

The first one was very very successful, thank you everyone who supported the event and enjoyed the excellent food!

And save the Fridays in August when there will be free family fun days at Barn Farm.

Barn Farm Community Garden

Thanks to a grant from County Councillor Malcolm Wallace we have been able to install festoon lighting to our outside space and also purchase equipment for the garden club.

Katie Mattingly our Community Development Officer also secured a grant from Winchester City Council to fund planters for the community garden club.

The first club session was held on 15th March. Katie said ‘ the launch of the community garden was a great success with volunteers coming together, making connections, and bringing the space to life! The Home Education group has started their seedling for their container adding to the growing excitement. A huge thank you to Cllr Wallace and Winchester City Council for their generous grants, as well as local residents Dorlee and Bill for their enthusiasm and support!’