PLANS for a major expansion of Homewood School at Tenterden have suffered a saetback. County planning chiefs had recommended that an £8.5million building programme at the school go ahead, making it the largest in Kent.

But county councillors have put the development on hold, saying they need more time to consider revised plans for a new library block.

The delay could hold up the start of building work, which in turn could make it more difficult for the school to meet its deadline for taking in more pupils.

The school warned this week that any further delay could lead to a “serious interruption” to the education of children.

Head teacher Derek Adam said: “While the school is disappointed not to have a final approval at this stage for all its building plans, we are happy the process is proceeding.

"It is clearly much more appropriate for any minor issues to be resolved now and we are optimistic that final approval will be agreed in the March meeting.”

He added: “However, it is important to recognise that any further delay will lead to a serious interruption of the education of our students and the removal of all temporary mobiles - this would clearly not be desirable.”

The library block has proved to be the most contentious part of the redevelopment at the school, that is designed to enable it to teach up to 2,300 pupils.

The original plan for the four-storey block was withdrawn and substituted after complaints from both Ashford Borough Council and Tenterden Town Council that it was too large and too close to the listed Mansion House building.

In its place, the school had proposed a smaller block featuring an observatory on the roof.

But despite these concessions, members of KCC’s planning committee decided they could not agree to the development and wanted more time to weigh it up.

Local county councillor Mike Hill said: “The revised application is a significant improvement on the earlier one but on balance we went along with Ashford Borough Council’s view that it was still too intrusive on that site.”

Councillors had not been convinced the revised plan would be any less of an eyesore so they had asked the school to “look again” at that part of the application, he added.

The proposed building programme includes more classrooms in a three-storey teaching block, a new sports hall, drama studios, library and vocational teaching block. In addition, around 70 more car parking spaces will be created.

Some of the school’s existing buildings will be demolished to make way for the new development.

The council’s conservation experts have also backed the new library, saying “the emphatically contemporary design” would enhance the adjacent listed Mansion House.