'Winsford infrastructure will improve as more homes are built'

That is the message from Cheshire West and Chester Council, which has received more than £9 million from Homes England to help prepare three sites in the town for 537 new houses.

It comes a week after dozens of Winsford residents spoke out over the council’s plans for new homes in the town over fears its infrastructure will not cope.

Commenting on the Guardian’s Facebook page, Sara Dines said: “We simply don’t have the infrastructure to cope with these additional housing estates.

“The schools are already full, the doctors and dentists are the same, the town centre is shocking, Leighton Hospital is bursting at the seams.”

CWAC is looking to build 310 homes behind the Verdin Exchange, 140 at Wharton Green and 87 at the former Handley Hill school.

Handley Hill was closed a decade ago by the former Cheshire County Council as Winsford’s schools were undersubscribed at the time.

Guardian reader Georgina Mclaughlin commented on Facebook: “Be better off building another school on the Handley Hill land to replace the one they took away from the children.

“Shame they predicted underpopulated schools for the future all those years ago when they chose to close Handley Hill.”

But the council has moved to reassure residents that the new developments will lead to better infrastructure – with Winsford receiving financial contributions from developers – and be sustainable for the town.

A CWAC spokesman said: “The new homes in Winsford will be built on sustainable, council-owned land. They will be available for both rent and ownership.

“The number of houses and the types of house are being selected based on a housing demand study and following the recommendations in the extensively consulted upon Winsford neighbourhood plan.

“The programme in Winsford has contributed nearly £1.9 million for school improvements and by the end of the programme will have significantly enhanced the town’s open space and green spaces.”

Local GP practices are also able to benefit from developers’ financial contributions, although they can only apply for the cash when a firm planning application is being considered.

A spokesman at NHS Vale Royal clinical commissioning group (CCG) said: “The CCG can only apply for Section 106 funding from developers at the planning application stage and not before or after.

“If an application for Section 106 funding is successful, the funds are retained by the local authority and not given to the CCG directly.

“GP practices can apply for Premises Improvement Grants to address health infrastructure needs and may utilise the Section 106 monies held by the local authority to support this grant.”

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Meanwhile, the CCG says it has developed a Winsford Care Community to make sure that the care it provides is ‘built around the people’ of Winsford by targeting local priorities – such as respiratory health, palliative care and children’s support.

The new system will bring people, services and organisations together from health and social care to help Winsford residents live a healthier life – which in turn would prevent more costly admissions to Leighton Hospital.