PLANS for a new footbridge over the railway line in Lymington have been submitted after residents suffered "extraordinary delays".

Housing developer Redrow Homes has submitted the proposals to create the access from their Lymington Shores development to the car park at Lymington Town railway station.

The designs include two flights of stairs and a lift to access the bridge on the station side and a reconfiguration of the car park, which requires approval from the Department for Transport.

A transport statement submitted on behalf of Redrow Homes says the 2.4m wide, 34.5m span footbridge will reduce the walking time by approximately five minutes, cutting around 400m off the existing route which involves walking along Bridge Road and Waterloo Road.

Calculations suggest there will be around 389 pedestrians movements on the footbridge between 7am and 7pm.

A Redrow Homes (Southern Counties) spokesperson said: “We are pleased to confirm that a detailed planning application for the pedestrian bridge at Lymington Shores has been submitted following extensive consultation with the key stakeholders.

“We are now awaiting a decision on the application and will continue to engage with the stakeholders during this period to prepare for construction. We remain wholly committed to delivery of the bridge at the earliest opportunity, as an integral link between the development and the town.”

The applicants were initially expected to deliver the footbridge before the occupation of the 75th open market dwelling on the 168-home Lymington Shores scheme.

In May 2017, an extension of before the occupation of the 125th open market dwelling was granted.

The Lymington Society, which aims to protect the character of the town, welcomed the plans and said the designs were a step in the right direction from those shown during a public consultation.

Don Mackenzie, Lymington Society press spokesman, said: “The residents of the site and local residents were led to believe that the bridge connecting the site to the town and to local travel facilities would be completed alongside the development of the site and they have been sadly let down by the extraordinary delay.

"Despite this delay we welcome the fact that at last a planning application has been submitted.

"However we are not there yet and the fact that the loss of car parking spaces still needs approval from the Department of Transport is disappointing after all this time.

"We hope that Redrow will put sufficient energy and resources into theses final stages of this saga to get the bridge approval and built as soon as possible”