by Trevor Sturgess

Up to 500 hi-tech jobs could be created after the go-ahead for a £20 million science park extension.

Kent Science Park at Sittingbourne has been granted permission by Swale council to build on a field alongside the existing development.

The 10-acre extension, due to cost between £15m and £20m over the next five years, also gives LaSalle Investment Management,the firm behind KSP, the green light to develop up to 129,170 sq ft of business floorspace and two technology units.

The plan had been criticised by residents who feared that the extra traffic would make their lives a misery. But KSP has worked with the council and Kent County Council to make changes to Ruins Barn Road and the crossroads with Cromers Road and Tunstall Road. Bosses claim they will improve road safety by cutting speeds.

An interactive electronic 30mph sign will be installed and the 30mph limit moved to a more suitable and prominent position.

Some 1,125 people - mostly from Swale - already work at KSP which is now home to 70 companies. Demand for hi-tech space is growing and Kent is targeting firms in this sector to create skilled jobs for local people. Ecologia, an environmental consultancy, is also developing a new international headquarters on the park.

Park managers forecast that the headcount will rise to around 1,600 after the extension is built.

Site director James Speck welcomed the decision. He said: “This is great news and a decision which is consistent with the borough’s ambitions to diversify its economy. It will help us to attract the industries and jobs that will enable Swale once again to punch above its weight within the South East.”

Paul Wookey, chief executive of Locate in Kent said: “Kent Science Park is an important asset to the county, encouraging knowledge-based companies and skilled staff to locate to Kent.

“Many companies at Kent Science Park have started and grown there, and the news that the site’s expansion plans have been approved means the area will have even more to offer science and technology companies in the UK and overseas.”