Southbourne Allocation Development Plan Document: Regulation 18 Consultation Main Document

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Westbourne Parish Council supports development to the east of Southbourne as it considers any development to the west would reduce the strategic gap between the settlements of Westbourne and Southbourne, and would affect the wildlife corridor which is important to protect for environmental and biodiversity purposes. It is important to leave plenty of green space between the two communities to protect the local identity of villages and avoid coalescence. The Council considers that a bridge for vehicles, bikes and pedestrians over the railway is essential to take pressure off the level crossing and connect any development to the A279.

The Council is concerned that the viability of the road bridge is marginal and if land values reduce or other financial pressures emerge, the road bridge solution may not go ahead. This could result in a situation where the housing proceeds but no road bridge is provided and would have a serious outcome, not only for Southbourne with gridlock at the level crossing, but also for Westbourne with traffic through the village seeking an alternative to the chaos at the level crossing. Whitechimney Row in Westbourne does not have the ability to take any more traffic due to the narrow and historic nature of the road. The Parish Council strongly objects to any scheme that does not deliver a road bridge over the railway. The Council considers the Community Infrastructure Levy must pay for the road bridge on any option and the number of houses should be increased if necessary to ensure enough funding to provide the bridge. 800 new homes without a road bridge would be a disaster. 900 new homes with a road bridge would make little difference overall in terms of the spatial plan but so much better as a solution to the need to grow Southbourne

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