A flagship business park touted to host the likes of Netflix and other big tech firms could be mothballed after failing to attract any tenants.

So far £11.6 million has been spent to try and get Innovation Park Medway (IPM), next to Rochester Airport, off the ground.

When plans were first unveiled it was billed as a “magnet” for businesses working in technology, engineering, manufacturing and highly skilled support services.

As part of the North Kent Enterprise zone, the site is described as offering access to “world-class research and development” and highly skilled talent through the cluster of Kent and Medway-based universities.

However, completion of the flagship park may now be paused while a review is carried out to work out a new roadmap for its future.

It comes as papers released ahead of Medway Council's next cabinet meeting show it’s necessary to reconsider the proposals to ensure the long-term sustainability of the site and cited changes to the way businesses operate post-pandemic as a driving factor.

At the cabinet meeting on February 13, members will discuss using £200,000 from the IPM budget to conduct a review and understand the best route forward.

IPM was first proposed in 2018 but has faced multiple challenges over the years.

The project failed to get money from the Levelling Up fund in January last year but did gain some from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership.

The site is intended to be able to host 30 businesses which were expected to move in by October this year. It was claimed this would bring up to 3,000 jobs to the area.

However, plans for a flagship building were later scaled back and now the council says rising costs due to inflation have made them want to take another look altogether.

In January 2023 it was claimed two businesses were ready to sign up to take on units at the site, but both of the available locations on the Southern Site are still advertised as being available on IPM’s website.

Currently, only infrastructure work at the southern section has been completed, with similar work at the northern part on-going.

None of the office buildings or business hubs have been constructed.

The council said it wouldn’t comment ahead of the cabinet meeting but was looking at issuing more information on the proposal.

The project was a main focus of former Tory administration leader Alan Jarrett, who ran Medway Council between 2015 to 2023.

He said pausing the development was “short-sighted” and said the Labour administration, in control since May last year, was not achieving much for the Towns.

“I think it’s typical of the new administration," he said. "They are just short-sighted and they have got no grasp on things at all.

"That’s a major development for Medway, one of the biggest ones for years. Very short-sighted, very foolish.

“We used to review things constantly, but it seems to me this administration is spending a lot of time reviewing and not an awful lot of time getting things done.

“In terms of taking Medway forward and developing Medway, I think they are doing a pretty lousy job.

“The IPM has the potential for up to 3,000 jobs and the whole premise of it was high-value jobs. What’s not to like about that?

“More jobs, more prosperity for Medway - but you won’t get that under the current administration.

“I think it’s absolutely appalling short-sightedness.”

Medway Conservatives' deputy leader Elizabeth Turpin said she had concerns about the project but would not comment further until she had fully read the report.

The land which IPM is on was acquired from Rochester Airport in 2021 but, while not having a direct impact on the aviation site, Kelvin Carr, airport manager, said it was a shame the project might stall and the land left vacant.

He said: “It's a shame that it is being paused but it does not impact on our plans for here.

"We acted as the enablers for Innovation Park Medway and we would have liked to have held on to the site.

"But Medway Council are our landlords, so we didn't have much choice when they approached us."

Speaking to KMTV, Cllr George Perfect (Con) said “IPM when originally conceived as an idea was about driving opportunities for businesses to come into Medway and be able to really thrive.

“We want to understand why there are challenges around the development of IPM, what the administration has been doing since May, and get to the bottom of why they see this as a project that they want to take a pause on.

“We will be looking at this very closely because we want to understand the potential implications of stopping that piece of work and where we see our development in terms of providing those regeneration opportunities will come from if it’s not at IPM.“

The proposal to pause development on the site and spend £200,000 for a review will be discussed at next week’s cabinet meeting.