The former Betteshanger colliery near Dover is to be transformed by a £40 million scheme that will see a green technologies business park, a research, development and education centre, and an eco-visitor centre built on the 12 hectare site.
The development is masterminded by Hadlow College, a land-based further and higher education college, which says that it will create up to 1,000 jobs.
Just over a quarter of the funds needed to finance the scheme will come from the public sector, while £29million will come from businesses and investors.
The college has applied for a further £6 million grant from the Government to fund construction of the site.
Building work is expected to begin in April. Hadlow’s director of finance and resources, Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, said that 35 per cent of the space available on the site had already been pre-let.
He added that Hadlow is looking to deliver a 6 to 8 per cent return for investors in the project.
Betteshanger was the last colliery in Kent, which closed in 1989 after 62 years in operation.