Plans for Coventry Gigafactory submitted
It could create up to 6000 jobs
Plans are being submitted for a Coventry electric car battery plant that could create up to 6,000 new jobs.
Planning permission to build the 5.7 million square feet gigafactory will boost ambitions to keep automotive production at the heart of the West Midlands region, according to the joint venture behind the move.
Proposals for the site, which could create up to 6,000 jobs directly, and tens of thousands more in the supply chain, were first unveiled in February.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said it was 'mission critical' that the West Midlands secures a gigafactory'' to safeguard its key industry, economy and the 'future of our planet'.
Coventry City Council is submitting the blueprint in partnership with the operators of Coventry Airport, where the plant would be located, in a move that backers say could attract £2 billion in investment.
If plans are passed, the site could be operational by 2025, though it would need investment from the private sector.
The Government has signalled its ambitions for a home-grown electric car battery industry in the UK, by making up to #500 million available initially to help build gigafactories.
UK policymakers also announced last year that, from 2030, the UK will end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans, a decade earlier than previously planned, as part of a 10-point 'green industrial revolution'.
Mr Street said:
'By going through the planning process now, we are trying to get everything in place for when a commercial negotiation between supplier and customer concludes, meaning we can move quickly to get the site operational as soon as possible.
'The West Midlands is already home to the country's biggest car manufacturer, Europe's largest research centre of its kind, the UK's only battery industrialisation centre, and a world-leading supply chain.
'A gigafactory therefore is the natural next step for the UK's automotive heartland, and I will not rest until we have secured one.''
Coventry City Council's leader George Duggins said:
'There is increasing pressure to ensure the UK is ready to take advantage of electrification and together the West Midlands is seizing the initiative to deliver for UK PLC as part of a green industrial revolution'.
Welcoming the announcement, Steve Turner, the Unite union's assistant general secretary for manufacturing said the UK needed 'at least seven' gigafactories to 'stay competitive'.
He said:
'There's no time to waste.
'Our competitors are spending more and moving faster.
'UK manufacturers, our world class auto industry and consumers desperately need to know that the infrastructure is in place to help them go green'.
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