THE latest addition to the giant King’s Moat Garden Village development in Chester has been rubber-stamped, despite concerns over the impact on local roads.

Planning chiefs unanimously backed an application by Redrow for 54 properties on Moat Farm off Wrexham Road, which will form part of the 153-acre Kings Moat Garden Village being developed by Taylor Wimpey and Redrow .

The newly-approved plans at the 6.5-acre parcel of land will see a derelict farmhouse and outbuildings flattened and replaced with properties ranging in size of between one and five bedrooms.  A total of 16 of the properties will also be made available for schemes such as affordable rent and shared ownership.

Ward councillor Razia Daniels had called in the plans for dicsussion by the committe, raising concerns over the cumulative impact of more properties on traffic and road safety.

She told the committee: “I have always argued that we need proper infrastructure in place to accommodate almost 1,400 homes on Wrexham Road.

“I understand that 500 homes have been sold and occupied and as a result, traffic on Wrexham Road has increased.

“Worried parents have contacted me about speeding on Wrexham Road, particularly near our school nursery and the bus stop because there is no safe crossing and pavements to walk on.

“I tried to get a safe crossing and presented a petition to the council and 545 residents signed a petition asking for the council to provide a safe crossing. The highways department rejected residents’ pleas saying that it did not meet the criteria.”

At the meeting, officers said the capacity of the road was taken into account when the original permission was granted for the wider development back in 2019, which factored in an increase of 1,500 properties.

Committee member Cllr Katrina Kerr raised concerns about what would happen if a new school which had been promised as part of the wider development did not come to fruition.

Officers said those plans were still on schedule and a new a primary school serving the wider King’s Moat site was due to open by September 2026. They added there was ‘no reason’ to suspect it would not open but added the situation would be kept ‘under review’.