District planners have given the go-ahead for the Discovery Park master plan which will develop the site and create better transport links.

The science and business park, in Ramsgate Road, will now see existing buildings knocked down to make room for 500 homes, a hotel, a Sainsbury’s supermarket and petrol station.

It is expected that the site will create some 3,000 jobs by 2017.

Members of the district council’s planning committee, meeting on Thursday, voted almost unanimously for the plan, with Deal councillor Jim Cronk the only abstention. He said: “Quite a few questions need to be answered about funding and the rural area as well.”

Speaking at the meeting, Discovery Park managing director Paul Barber said: “Discovery Park has delivered fantastic progress over the past few years.

“Running costs were at an unsustainable level and the whole place was in danger of closure, but we are just about to open the 100th tenant.”

There will be an extra bus route for Sandwich, adding stops to bus route 13, which runs from Deal to Canterbury.

Alterations to the A256 and the A257 will also go ahead, costing around £500,000, according to the highways officer.

The money will encompass all roadworks and a smaller fleet of buses, which aim to be slimmer. This is one of the many traffic calming measures set to be in place.

Expenses for improved pedestrian links have been sourced by the sustainable transport fund.

Speaking to the Mercury after approval, managing director Mr Barber said: “We’re delighted the district council has granted Discovery Park planning permission. This means we can now start to design our proposals in more detail and move towards our next phase of development.

“This decision makes it more likely that many more thousands of jobs, the majority of which will be suitable for local people, will be created at Discovery Park.”

An amendment was made so that more detailed plans will come back to the committee to look over at a later date.