Plans to build a new school are dividing a village community. Kent County Council is consulting on building plans to move and expand Tunstall Church of England Primary.

But emotions are running so high, two PCSOs were asked to go along to the parish council meeting, at the village hall on Monday night, in case there was any trouble when the application was discussed.

More than 150 people attended, including members of the group Protect Tunstall, which is against the development, and Tunstall Mums, which is for it.

An open session of 15 minutes at the beginning of the night was extended to two-and-a-half hours so as many residents and parents of pupils could have their say.

With 210 children, the school is at maximum capacity. There are also issues with access and parking in and around the site in Tunstall Road.

The grade II-listed Victorian building has seven classrooms, two inside and the rest in mobile classrooms in the grounds. In March 2012, the governors were asked by KCC to come up with a permanent solution.

The proposal is to move it to land owned by the authority along the east-west section of Tunstall Road, including the section opposite Cranbrook Drive.

The estimated cost is £4 million with £1.8 million coming from the government and the rest from KCC.

The new site would be a two-form entry, eventually increasing to 420 places. A decision on the educational merits of moving the school is due to be made by Cllr Roger Gough, KCC cabinet member for education, after February 28.

If given the go-ahead, the school would permanently admit 60 children into its reception year from September 2015 and subsequent years.

The parish council is due to submit its objections in the next few days. Parish council chairman Lee Burgess, who is also a county councillor for Swale central, said: “It’s the wrong site for it.

“There are issues about safety – a traffic survey [carried out between January 14-21] found more than 2,000 cars a day travelling along Tunstall Road – and flooding because you are replacing a porous field with tar and concrete.”

There are some deep-rooted feelings on both sides of the argument. Sarah Stephen is the vice-chairman of Protect Tunstall, which opposes the new school.

The 52-year-old, who lives in Ruins Barn Road, said: “The big concern is the highways - narrow country lanes, pathways, blind entrances and the volume of traffic.

“There are environmental issues too such as the loss of the strategic countryside gap between Sittingbourne and the village, the new school isn’t in keeping with the village, noise pollution, flooding and the carbon footprint being increased.”

Janey Holliday, 36, set up the group Tunstall Mums, in favour of the new site. The single parent of five-year-old identical twin boys, who go to the school, said: “If it doesn’t go ahead our children’s education is at serious risk.

“The site can’t expand and the facilities are not up to scratch, meaning the curriculum can’t be taught properly.

“If [as some people have suggested] it reduces to a half-form entry it means 105 children will have to find places in the local area and there are none.”