THERE are lessons to be learned following the building of the mixed housing estate on the edge of Petersfield. That was the message to East Hampshire district councillors when members of the "building successful communities panel" looked at a special survey carried out by their housing development officers. New residents on the estate, which has private and affordable housing, said the worst problem on the estate was parking, with 60 people complaining that people did not use their garages, they parked dangerously, and there was a lack of visitor parking. They also complained about perceived problems with social housing tenants and of noise on the estate. On the plus side, 39 people surveyed said they liked the location and 20 said the people living on the development were friendly. Reporting back to the panel on Tuesday night, housing development manager Natalie Meagher and housing development project officer Helen Cann said that of the 297 households on Ramshill, 110 had completed the questionnaire, giving a 37 per cent response rate. They said the "mixed tenure" housing development offered market housing and affordable housing, which included 53 general needs homes, 17 intermediate rent, and 26 shared-ownership properties, of which seven were for key worker, shared ownership. They reported that 87 per cent of those who replied said they were "very" or "fairly" satisfied with the Ramshill development as a place to live. They were also generally happy with most aspects of their home, including size, layout and exterior design. But satisfaction dipped on the quality of the buildings, with 73 per cent of those who answered the survey being "very" or "fairly" satisfied. The replies showed that the garden was the area where people were least satisfied, with the size and condition of the areas being identified as problem areas. The majority of the people who returned their questionnaires lived in Barentin Way, Charlton Drive, Collingwood Way, Crafts Lane, Dickins Lane and Luker Drive. Seventy-one per cent of those who took part in the survey said that people on their estate were friendly and mixed well, 40 per cent agreed that the proportion of "social housing" and private housing was about right, while 34 per cent disagreed. The survey found that 42 per cent agreed that the mixed "pepper-potting" setting of the two types of housing was about right, but 40 per cent disagreed. Around two-thirds were aware that there was a community development worker on Ramshill, and around half of these people considered that the workers were having a positive effect on community relations. Helen Cann told the meeting: "Car parking arrangements are a major issue and are reported as one of the most common causes of neighbourhood disputes." Elizabeth Cartwright, housing portfolio holder at the council, told the meeting: "We could all have predicted the parking would be a problem." But she added that current planning policy guidance did give planners more flexibility on parking. "We should use this in the second stage of development at Lord Mayor Treloar's in Alton. We should certainly be more generous with the parking as we may be able to alleviate some of the existing problems." She added: "I think on the whole this is a pretty positive response from the residents, and I think that there is no doubt that the community development workers have made a difference in moulding the community, which might not have happened without them." On the problems highlighted over the social housing part of the development, Julia Potter, the head of housing and property services, told the meeting that she believed some of the problems stemmed from the fact that developers did not always make it clear when selling to private buyers exactly where the affordable housing was located." She said this could result in private buyers spending around £350,000 and not being happy to discover they lived next door to affordable housing. But when people complained that children from affordable houses were making a noise and playing in the street, they could just as easily be children from the private houses." Mrs Cartwright added: "I don't think there is much we can do about the perceived social housing problem. If people spend £350,000 or £400,000 on a house, they don't necessarily expect to find themselves next to an affordable house. But their neighbours could be delightful people, not necessarily neighbours from hell, in fact they could get far worse people who could be private occupiers."