Traffic lights outside a controversial new-build estate are set to be switched on next month – with the first residents expected to move in by spring.

Housebuilder Redrow is working on the first phase of a 725-home ‘Large Burton’ development, officially known as ‘Crown Hill View’, in Kennington, Ashford.

New traffic lights controlling a pedestrian crossing have been installed along A2070 Willesborough Road just outside one of the site’s two access points.

Redrow says the signals, which will link the development to the existing Little Burton estate, are expected to be switched on in February although an exact date is yet to be confirmed.

Phase one of the development includes 288 homes alongside a new venue for Ashford Town Bowls Club, a footbridge over the railway line, 7.4 acres of new wetlands, a community centre, and a two-form entry primary school, to be called Conningbrook CofE Primary.

Detailed plans for the remaining 437 homes are yet to be revealed, but outline consent has been secured.

A section 106 agreement – a developer contribution designed to offset the effect of housebuilding – means the land for the school will be handed over to Kent County Council before 180 homes have been sold.

The new home for Ashford Town Bowls Club will come later when 300 homes are occupied, although a timeline for when the club will leave its current base in Vicarage Lane is not yet clear.

The new bridge crossing the railway line was given the go-ahead in September, despite concerns over its appearance and potential harm to wildlife.

The structure will replace the current level crossing over the Ashford to Canterbury line and will link the under-construction housing scheme with Conningbrook Lakes Country Park and the nearby Conningbrook Lakes housing estate.

At a public consultation in 2018, Quinn Estates chairman Mark Quinn – whose company gained planning permission for the development – said he was frustrated by criticism from residents living in the existing Little Burton housing estate, which was first occupied in the early 2000s.

“A number of the people have complained from the modern estate nearby, and it’s hard to stomach,” he told KentOnline’s sister title the Kentish Express at the time.

“If everyone took the attitude they had, they would have nowhere to live.

“We will definitely seek to mitigate the impact upon the locals and we will ensure that their views are unspoilt. It will create hundreds of jobs locally over these next 10 years.”

Redrow says the estate will be made up of three and four-bedroom homes, with prices starting from £400,000.

The project – which is in Ashford Borough Council’s Local Plan – was met with more than 1,000 objections before it was given the green light by the authority in 2020.

Planning permission was secured by just one vote, but the developers were then held up by poor water quality levels at the Stodmarsh Nature Reserve outside Canterbury.

It meant they had to demonstrate “nutrient neutrality” within the River Stour to ensure no adverse impact to the designated sites at Stodmarsh.

When construction began last February, Little Burton residents said they wished they had been given more notice about work starting.

Sarah Kenny, who moved in five years ago, said: "We knew it was coming but it has been delayed and delayed so we wondered if it would actually be going ahead at all.

"Where I live was fields once, so I have to understand that we do have to build new housing, but it just feels like there will be no green spaces left.”

Drivers have faced months of delays as temporary traffic lights on Willesborough Road have been in place while changes to the road layout have been made.

Overnight closures have also been introduced, but it is not currently clear if any more are on the cards.

Cllr Winston Michael, who represents the Goat Lees ward on Ashford Borough Council, says traffic lights are "necessary" as the estate is so large.

The Ashford Independent member said: "From general discussion with people, there have been concerns about infrastructure and the volume of traffic coming down Willesborough Road.

"But I think most people have accepted it's happening.

"When I look at the houses compared to other estates I think they look nice, but I think it is a lost opportunity that they have not made more of a focus to show off Wye Crown.

"It's a big selling point and they could have used it to create a wow factor."