Betteshanger Sustainable Parks will see a technology and business park, commercial horticulture site and further and higher education facilities developed alongside a country and heritage park on a former Kent colliery site funded by a mix of private sector investment and Government grants.
It has been five years in development and has blossomed from Hadlow’s original search for a site to fill a geographical gap in its provision of land-based courses across the county.
Speaking at the launch college principal Paul Hannan said: "I’m proud to have been involved from the beginning. Both my dad and granddad were miners in county Durham. As a young lecturer I dreamt of being a college principal; I never imagined that as a son of a miner I would be involved in helping to develop a colliery."
Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke said those involved had worked tirelessly on the project.
"It is a great day for east Kent. Hadlow College will invest and create something really amazing in our community. They will create a business park that never was and make it happen."
The first phase is expected to create 1,000 jobs. For more details see this week’s issue of Horticulture Week.
