A new road bridge over the railway line in Southbourne is required if 1250 new dwellings are to be accommodated satisfactorily. The provision of infrastructure at the right time is essential. Sufficient land for 1250 dwellings is unlikely to be found anywhere other than north of the railway line and this would make existing congestion at the Stein Road level crossing considerably worse. The construction of 1250 dwellings at a completion rate of some 80 dwellings a year would lead to continual building for the next 16 years. The associated construction traffic would make the situation even worse. In these circumstances the northbound queues could back-up onto the A259. A separate footbridge on the east side of the village is also required as is the closure of existing at-level and uncontrolled pedestrian routes across the railway line.

Policy AL 13 (4) only proposes "Opportunities as they arise to improve the situation relating to the various existing or planned railway crossings". This is too weak. The policy should require the provision of these new rail crossings to support the proposals set out in the current Neighbourhood Plan.