Scaled-back business park to include care home

Plans for a scaled-back multi-million pound business park in a Kent town, which will now include a care home and retirement units, have been approved.

The proposals for Innovation Park Medway (IPM) in Chatham were paused in February 2024 after initial plans had been "affected by a significant change in the market in the wake of the Covid pandemic", according to Medway Council.

The local authority said it would be temporarily leasing land on IPM's northern site to BAE Systems to help fund the project.

Harinder Mahil, the council's portfolio holder for economic and social regeneration, said the revised plans will give IPM "the most sustainable future and provide the best benefit to Medway's economy and residents".

IPM had wanted to attract big tech and media firms such as Netflix and Google when the development was first proposed in 2017, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council said it would be saving £25m with it's new plans for the site, near Rochester Airport.

The cabinet approved on Tuesday a mix of industrial and mid-tech facilities for the northern site and a 70-bed care home plus retirement units for the southern site.

It also agreed to temporarily lease the land on the northern site to BAE Systems.

Some infrastructure is already in place, the council said, including access roads, bus stops, footpaths and cycleways and drainage.

Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.