The first images of what a new school might look like if built on the site of a historic Kent barracks have been revealed.

The facility would provide education for children from the age of four right through to 18 on a single campus.

The school, costed at between £48m and £60m, is essential if plans to turn Invicta Barracks in Maidstone into a site for 1,300 houses can be delivered.

Critics maintain it is in an unsuitable place for such a development, saying it is the wrong shape and dimension.

The report acknowledges "constraints" and "high risk" items regarding the site's suitability for a school, which could accommodate 400 primary and 900 secondary pupils.

The total or partial removal of woodland has been a source of concern from the start.

The Invicta Barracks is a 115-acre Ministry of Defence (MoD) site in the centre of the county town.

There has been a barracks in Maidstone for hundreds of years and it is currently home to 36 Engineer Regiment as well as a Gurkha presence.

Eight years ago, the MoD announced the site would close in 2027 but that was later extended to 2029.

The images are contained in an early "Site and Options Appraisal" document commissioned jointly by Kent County Council (KCC) and Keir Construction.

The new facility is described as a "Maidstone All-Through School", a concept aimed to combine primary and secondary education on the same campus.

It means children can attend the same site from the age of four until leaving at 18.

The report states: "An analysis of the whole site was carried out and a number of high risk items and unknowns, particularly to the woodland area, restricts any conclusive recommendations for this site's viability."

Maidstone council is keen to include the site in its latest local plan as a means to satisfy government-imposed housing targets.

The joint report is due to go before the KCC planning apppications committee tomorrow (March 20).

Liberal Democrat county councillor Ian Chittenden is opposed to the plan. He said: "We've been fighting these proposals for years. There are so many reasons why the site is inappropriate.

"It is not suitable for that level of housing and would bring a lot of traffic to an area which is already very congested. The site is on a gradient and is generally not the right shape.

"We have also raised concerns about the removal of woodland at the site. There may be a case for a smaller development there of, say, 600 houses. But whether that could sustain a school, I really can't say."

Cllr Chittenden said he was particularly worried about the pressures already exerted on the local NHS services, dentistry and schools by the programme of house-building.

The Invicta Barracks site is one of dozens earmarked by the government to "release value from surplus land" and "maximise property" under its defence estate optimisation (DEO) programme.

This could mean the disposal of land and relocate soldiers to much larger "super barracks" in future.

The government has argued the MoD holds vast swathes of land at garrison sites all over the country, a large proportion of which is unused or under-used.

The MoD Said: "DEO...is an ambitious 25-year investment to deliver a better structured, more economical, and modern estate that more effectively supports military capability through construction activity, unit and personnel moves, and site disposals."

The Invicta Barracks proposal goes before Maidstone council on Wednesday also as part of its local plan review.

Cllr Clive English, Liberal Democrat vice chairman of planning on the borough council, said: "The issue of whether the school can be delivered on the land there is a major part of what the (planning) inspector says has to be delivered. It's a bit of a problem."

At the end of last year, papers to the KCC planning applications committee stated: “The county council has raised concerns that the size and shape of the land identified for the school would not typically be considered appropriate.

“The component parts of a school are typically formed of rectangular shaped elements, such as playing pitches or buildings, which cannot be squeezed within irregularly sized or shaped sites.”