More than 180 new school places will be created at six schools across Kent after county councillors approved their expansion plans.

The biggest growth will be at Maplesden Noakes School in Maidstone, which will increase its intake by 60 from September 2021 to 240 places.

The children's, young people and education cabinet committee at Kent County Council endorsed the amendments to schools yesterday.

Elsewhere, the Beacon School in Folkestone plans to open a satellite classroom to make way for an extra 44 places.

In Gravesend, St George's CoE secondary school will increase its capacity by 30 every school year from September.

Sellindge Primary School in Ashford will also up the number of pupils it takes by 30.

The taxpayer is likely to foot a bill of up to £6 million for the expansion of Maplesden Noakes.

Cllr Dan Daley (Lib Dem) shared his fears this will increase traffic in the area during school opening hours.

He said: "The thing that concerns me is it is apparent to me, no work has been done on the highways issue.

"This is one school in a conglomeration where there are three schools altogether at the end of a cul-de-sac.

"You should see the mess of traffic there is currently without increasing the input into the school."

Council officer Marissa White responded the planning process will address the issues concerning traffic later.

She added this proposal is subject to whether their application is accepted in the summer.

The Beacon School in Folkestone plans to open a satellite classroom to make way for 380 places.

This classroom at the neighbouring Castle Hill Community Primary School would provide additional space for children with special educational needs.

The "outstanding" school is designated for 336 pupils with profound, severe and complex needs but there are 369 pupils on the roll. Upping its capacity to 380 will alleviate this issue.

Chair of governors at the Castle Hill Community School, Lorraine Balcombe, wrote on the application: "This proposal has been fully supported by the governors, staff and parents.

"At Castle Hill Community School, we have always prided ourselves on our inclusivity.

"Having had a successful hearing-impaired unit on site for many years and seeing how those pupils flourished by being part of the mainstream environment, we were delighted to be approached by The Beacon with the proposal of having a satellite class on our site."

The expansion of St George's CoE would cost the council £2.6m to cover the costs of any alterations.

Cllr Dr Lauren Sullivan shared her concerns the neighbouring primary school will also increase its intake on the same site.

She said: "I'm a little bit concerned that we are going through the process without taking into account local residents.

"This year, I also believe there were no spaces for non-faith schools for local parents.

"It's sad they will have to bare the brunt of the increased traffic flow and yet aren't guaranteed spaces."

Council officer Stuart Collins responded the school has its own admissions authority so this is not in the county council's remit.

He added the planning application process would address any concerns about traffic.

Around £1.5m will be spent on building a new classroom block at Sellindge Primary School in Ashford, which will increase capacity by 30.

This comes as a new housing development of 250 homes has been approved opposite the school.

The developer has provided land for this additional space and promised to contribute £836,000 towards the project.

A second development in the pipeline would also see another 137 homes in the village and £528,000 in financial contributions.

This six-classroom block expansion in Main Road would make way for the school to reach a potential limit of 420 pupils.

On the application, Cllr Sue Carey (Con) wrote: "I support the proposal to expand Sellindge Primary School.

"It is a popular school and expansion will enable it to meet local demand.

"Design, parking arrangements and facilities are all issues that will need to be addressed through the planning process but the expansion to 2FE will strengthen the school financially and educationally and I welcome it."

To make way for an increase of pupils with special educational needs, Whitfield Primary School's specialist resource provision centre will expand from 96 places to 112.

Dover does not have a dedicated special school so these spaces are crucial for children with education health and care plans to have their needs met.

Headteacher Jason Cook says "every available space" has already been used to meet the high demand but an extension to the school is set to be complete by Easter.

KCC's area education officer David Adams wrote on the application: "As the number of pupils on roll in the Aspen Specialist Resource Provision has exceeded the present designated number by more than 10%, legislation requires that we hold run a statutory process to regularise the current situation and increased the designated number.

"We appreciate that the school has been under pressure prior to the delivery of the satellite.

"We will continue to work with the school to manage the pressure for specialist places until the satellite is delivered."

Stone Bay community special school plans to open its doors to younger children.

The 'good' school in Broadstairs currently accepts children with special education needs from age eight but the threshold is set to be adjusted to five years old.

These adjustments are being made to meet the demand for specialist key stage one education in the area.

The school in Stone Road plans to include the new classes in the current café and music block which will become the primary building and can accommodate four classrooms.

While schools across the county are bursting at the seams, one school's expansion plans have been put on hold.

Deal Parochial Primary School was given permission to accept a total of 60 pupils last September.

The increase was approved last January in anticipation of an influx of pupils in the area but fewer pupils applied than predicted.

To ensure neighbouring schools are not negatively impacted, the plans have been paused until September 2020.