Plan for 3,500 new homes gets the nod '“ but demand is also made for new roads so the area can copeÂ

The 3,500-home development in North Whiteley has been approved by Winchester City Council and means work can now start on the scheme which has been in the pipeline for a number of years.

But Whiteley Town Council have vowed that the infrastrucuture must be in place before the house building can begin.

Whiteley Town Council chairman, Councillor Mike Evans said: '˜This has been a long time coming and we are glad that we are now at this stage and it is no surprise to us that it  is going ahead.

'˜But the infrastructure around the site needs to be in place first including the new road to Botley which will be the first road to be opened, we hope, in December 2019.

'˜We are working closely with the city council and Highways England to ensure this is all in place.'

The issue of increase in traffic was raised by residents during the application's consultation period.

The city council has also said '˜significant improvements' will be made to Whiteley Way from the shopping centre down to Junction 9 of the M27.

Concerns have also been raised about the impact of the new development happening in the same time frame as Welborne and the M27 Smart Motorway scheme.

Cllr Evans said: '˜Obviously residents will be impacted by this development and the motorway scheme and there will be disruption for some time but we are working with Highways England, the North Whiteley consortium and the city council to ensure it is made as easy as possible.'

The scheme will also provide a secondary school and two primary schools, a nursery, and two local community centres as well as playing fields, open spaces  and protected wildlife corridors.

Cllr Evans also hopes the scheme will boost the local economy.

He said: '˜We did a survey that showed only four per cent of people who lived in Whiteley also worked here so we hope this will go some way to increasing that number and reducing the traffic.'

Winchester City Council leader and portfolio holder for housing, Councillor Caroline Horrill, added:  '˜This administration is prioritising the building of new homes so local people have greater choice in terms of affordable housing and this is a great step forward.'