Developers are today revealing detailed plans for the city’s most ambitious urban transformation in years.

Images released to KentOnline show proposals to breathe new life into a derelict expanse the size of five football pitches in central Canterbury.

Regeneration of the 10-acre site at Kingsmead will see shops, bars, restaurants, homes and a multiplex cinema built around a new public square hosting public events and markets.

We can today report that the overhaul will be predominately for leisure use, with the cinema boasting eight to 10 screens, 55,000 square feet given over to commercial units and 300 parking spaces serving the site.

The development will also offer 500 student rooms or flats – none with parking – and 65 private homes with allocated spaces for vehicles.

When construction begins late next year, it will mark the launch of the biggest city centre development since the Whitefriars shopping complex was completed in 2005.

The eye-catching complex will sit on the site of the old coach park and Serco depot, nestled between Kingsmead Field and the Northgate roundabout.

Colin Carmichael, chief executive of Canterbury City Council, says that the development forms the “last piece in the jig-saw” in a regeneration of the wider area.

“We’re pleased to have got this far,” he said. “It’s certainly been tricky. One of the things very popular when we consulted on this was the multiplex cinema.

“This is not about the value of that land. We could have sold the site for housing and got an awful lot more. But the development brief came back and leisure was what people wanted.”

Earlier this year we reported how Canterbury City Council – which owns the land – was due to choose from three bidders who had put forward proposals.

The chosen developer was Bouygues UK, an international company whose ongoing projects include a £600 million regeneration of London’s Canning Town and a £160 million development at the University of Hertfordshire.

According to Mr Carmichael, the development of the Serco site is the fourth part of a phased overhaul of the Kingsmead area.

Housing built at Kingsbrook Park, sold at the height of the property boom, effectively funded the new Marlowe Theatre, he said.

Kingmead Field – controversially once tipped for housing – is to be preserved as the “open space” element of the masterplan.

And Kingsmead Leisure Centre, on Kingsmead Road, is also to be improved with a £6million cashpot already set aside.

Early last year, the authority was in talks with Sainsbury’s to take on the land currently occupied by the superstore.

Sainsbury’s at that time was considering a move to the site opposite, but subsequently withdrew from the plans blaming “changing shopping patterns in the food sector”.

Council leader Simon Cook said: “There’s lots of enthusiasm for this project in Canterbury. Local people have been asking for a multiplex cinema for many years.

“We could have allocated the entire site for housing, which would have given the council much more money, but there would have been no community benefit.

“There does need to be some housing to make the scheme financially viable, but this is intended to be complementary to the area rather than risking overdevelopment.

“Other developers were suggesting a far higher proportion of housing, which we felt was unacceptable.”

While many have welcomed news that the eye-sore site is to be given a makeover, a large number have expressed concern about increased traffic.

Caroline Hicks, head of business and regeneration, said traffic impact studies would form part of the planning process.

She did say that one plan involved extending the Sturry Road bus lane all the way to the roundabout at the junction of Kingsmead Road, to improve park and ride services to the area.

The council says it is too early to identify particular operators which may occupy the site, as Bouygues is still in commercial talks with possible occupants.

Managing director of Bouygues Development, Nicolas Guerin, said: “Our plans for Kingsmead involve a truly mixed use site providing a new place for the people of Canterbury to live, work, dine and spend time in.”