TWO thousand hi-tech jobs are set to take off in a hothouse of new ideas close to Rochester Airport.

They will be created over the next few years at a planned £41million innovation centre, knowledge and technology cluster. The aim is to keep talented graduates in Medway as well as attracting outsiders.

It will be a phased development on land owned by Medway Council but initially using renovated buildings run by BAE Systems.

Highly qualified BAE staff, especially in R&D and computer software, are likely to be involved. The deal, announced at the Thames Gateway Forum, was sealed after the Government pledged £3.6million to the scheme. A further £500,000 will come from Medway Council and the rest from the private sector.

The project, on a 10-acre site, will not interfere with flying, a fear that fuelled local opposition to previous proposals. The council claims the new scheme will create more jobs than the original ideas while safeguarding flying.

David Miliband, minister of communities and local government, confirmed the decision. During a visit to the Medway Renaissance stand, where he spoke to local officials and councillors, he told Kent Business that Medway was a good place to do business in the Thames Gateway.

That was why the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister had backed the investment.

"This really innovative partnership with BAE is a distinctive statement by Medway that it wants to plug into the wider Gateway," he said.

Cllr Jane Chitty, council portfolio holder for strategic planning and economic development, said: "What we have got now is 2,000 jobs without interfering with what local people considered a hugely important site."

The innovation centre in a 40,000 sq ft building is due to open in 2007.

The centre will be a catalyst for developing technology companies. They will typically stay in the centre for three years and then graduate to a larger follow-on building. The council’s partners include BAE Systems, Universities of Kent and Greenwich and Royal Bank of Scotland.