BILL ROUSE, American driving force behind the development of Kings Hill, West Malling, has died at his home in Pennsylvania after an 18-month battle with cancer. He was 61.

His passion for quality was underlined at Kings Hill where the development of businesses, homes and leisure facilities on the former West Malling airfield created a widely admired flagship project. Before his illness, he regularly visited the Kent development.

Kent county councillor Alex King said Bill Rouse was a "philanthropist to the core and his approach to life is best summed up by a saying attributed to him.

"The more I give, the harder it is to catch up with what has been given to me."

Cllr King said his legacy at Kings Hill shone through in the Rouse Kent commitment to public arts, both at the development itself and the annual countywide awards sponsored by the company.

From small beginnings 31 years ago, with three colleagues, he built what is now one of the largest publicly quoted property development companies in North America - now known as Liberty Property Trust with a market capitalisation of almost $5bn.

Bill faced and overcame many challenges as he and his partners nurtured their growing business; business parks with pioneering levels of facilities, skyscraper offices that changed the skyline of Philadelphia and in the late 1980's the first overseas venture-Kings Hill.

The partnership with Kent County Council to redevelop the former West Malling airfield has seen the development of a high quality business park alongside new residential villages.

Cllr King said: "Kings Hill itself stands as a fitting memorial to him, described as one of the best projects we've ever done by a senior Liberty insider and which sets the benchmark for all strategic sites in Kent."

He added: "Bill died at the age of 61, having achieved more in that span than many would in two full lifetimes."

Nearly 3,000 people attended his memorial service at the Kimmel Center--his last property project in Philadelphia, his adopted home. He is survived by Susannah and their eight children.