BUILDING on protected countryside could be a price worth paying if it meant Kent was to become the headquarters of a cutting-edge science park creating hundreds of jobs, according to the Conservative leader of Kent County Council.

Cllr Paul Carter has hinted he would accept the need to develop an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) if there were "exceptional reasons" to do so.

Planning chiefs have already admitted that around 200 acres of protected countryside on the North Downs could have to be sacrificed for houses if the £1billion development of Wye College goes ahead.

Cllr Carter also insisted it would be a "marvellous coup" if Kent was to become the global centre for non-food crops, a possible feature of the controversial Wye College scheme which is facing widespread opposition in the area because of its impact on the countryside.

His comments came at the launch of Kent County Council’s four-year masterplan setting out 67 goals the Conservative administration says will shape council policy up to 2010.

A key section of the document, setting out various environmental commitments, states that "building high quality housing while protecting our natural heritage requires a sensitive balance".

In it, Cllr Graham Gibbens, KCC’s cabinet member for regeneration, says that "our challenge is to sensitively manage growth so it results in the construction of quality housing with the minimum environmental impact".

But when asked how he would strike the balance between safeguarding the environment and the need for development if formal proposals came forward to build on areas of AONB, Cllr Carter said: "Our track record is extremely good.

"Obviously, we have the growth agenda thrust upon us by the Government. If there is to be a need to build on AONB, there has to be a very, very good reason as to why."

That meant it would be wrong to discount proposals simply on environmental grounds where there was an argument about the "greater good" they might bring in terms of jobs and the economy.

"We are going to see formal proposals come forward and if there are exceptional reasons, then we should look at something like Wye to see what some of the benefits that a science and innovation park, similar to the one Imperial College is proposing, could bring for the greater good of the county."

A public inquiry would offer a forum for the pros and cons of any scheme to be argued, he added.