A senior health service manager has welcomed plans to rebuild Chase Farm Hospital.

Enfield Borough Council's planning committee last week voted to pass the multi-million pound development, which will see 500 new homes and a new primary school built on the site on The Ridgeway, Enfield.

Joan Ryan, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Enfield North, claimed last week the site was too small, leaving it at risk of being turned into a healthcare centre and not a hospital.

David Sloman, chief executive of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Chase Farm Hospital, said: “I was delighted the planning committee unanimously approved the new hospital for the borough. It was unanimously approved which was the right thing to do.”

Mr Sloman said the current services are provided across a “very large” area, and are “not fit for purpose.”

He added: “The commissioners have determined the range of services which need to be provided. We will ensure these are provided in excellent 21st Century accommodation.”

When asked if the site was too small, Mr Sloman said: “That’s not the case at all. We are redeveloping a substantial hospital which meets the need of local people.”

Mr Sloman said he was confident about the plans, and that it would hopefully all be approved by 2018.