1- The allocation of additional housing across the district proposed by the Chichester council is uneven and will unfairly affects Southbourne and its area. A housing increase of +50% in Southbourne (+1250 houses on a village of currently approximately 2500 houses) will significantly impact the Southbourne local environment for the worse, turning what is currently a small village with a community spirit into a commuter town. In the meantime, most other areas around Chichester are largely unaffected, with only small additional developments for a few hundreds of houses planned for here and there.
It could instead be fairer to spread the housing requirement more evenly across the district. Most areas between Emsworth and Chichester have got large amounts of agricultural land that could be converted without significant local impact. We request that a more balanced approach is selected, spreading the housing allocation more evenly, in order to maintain the character of each area.


2- Traffic, congestion and pollution along the A259 are already a major issue for local residents. There is no motorway junction along the 9-mile stretch between Warblington and Chichester, drives forces all the traffic from the villages (Emsworth, Southbourne, Nutbourne, Bosham, Fishbourne) onto the A259. We walk our children to nursery and to school along this road ; both the noise and the pollution are at times unbearable due to the constant traffic. There is regularly rush hour congestion between Emsworth and the Warblington motorway junction. We can't have a conversation while walking due to the overwhelming noise of the cars.
Adding thousands of houses along this stretch alongside similar plans between Havant and Emsworth will only add to the issue, and will adversely affect Southbourne and Emsworth in particular. In my view, a pre-requisite for additional houses should be improved access to the motorway. A new motorway junction connecting the villages to the A27 should be budgeted for in the plan and implemented before new building works can start. Southboune or Nutbourne already have part of the infrastructure (bridges over the motorway and largely empty spaces around the bridge allowing the construction of a junction without major effort). If new housing needs to be implemented in Southbourne north of the railway line, then it would make a lot of sense that this new housing development is connected to the motorway at Southbourne (Stein road). In consequence, I request that a motorway junction is budgeted for in the neighbourhood plan, as a necessary condition to the development of this large new housing area in Southbourne.
Looking at the long term and at the sustainability of this area, promises for "improved public transport" in the current draft will do nothing to ease the congestion. A budgeted committment to a new motorway junction will.

3- Stein Road in Southbourne is very congested at times, particularly during school drop-off and pick-up times. The absence of a footbridge and or a car bridge / tunnel (contrary to Emsworth for example) makes this congestion worse. We frequently have to wait up to 10 minutes at the crossing when 2, sometimes 3 trains, arrive within the same timescale. This congestion, with cars keeping their engines on at the railway crossing, vehicles parked on the pavement, make Stein Road a very dangerous and polluted road - there is an accident waiting to happen there. With this in mind, the road network, level crossing, access to the motorway need to be addressed first before adding a large quantity of dwellings in the area. More trains or buses will not resolve the congestion issue. If anything, more trains could cause more delays at the level crossing.