Council to spend £1m on airport redevelopment plan

The council is to spend up to £1m on a new plan to redevelop the former Coventry Airport site, to allow a wider range of businesses to move in.

Coventry City Council said, while a proposed gigafactory was still part of the scheme, it wanted to open up the land to other possible advanced manufacturing occupiers.

The authority's cabinet approved the additional funding for the new Greenpower Park planning application at a meeting on Tuesday.

Its contribution will comprise half of the money needed for planning, technical, environmental, legal and commercial work, with the remainder coming from Greenpower Park Ltd, formerly Coventry Airport Ltd.

The council, which owns the freehold of the 125-hectare site, says the cost of the new plan would be clawed back through the sale of land to businesses.

The airport closed permanently in June after 90 years, with its final flight landing the previous month.

Greenpower Park planning work has so far cost just over £6m, including £2.25m from Coventry City Council matched by the same amount from Coventry Airport Ltd.

In 2021, the two parties jointly agreed to develop the site for battery manufacturing, and in 2022 planning permission was given for a gigafactory to support the automotive sector.

During the cabinet meeting, council leader George Duggins said the previous planning permission limited the range of potential occupiers.

"This will enable a broader range of advanced manufacturing, engineering, research and development and innovation," he said.

Reform councillor Jackie Gardiner said her group supported the "exciting venture", highlighting the "great number of jobs" it would attract.

The site's owner, Steve Rigby, told the BBC in June the gigafactory plans might have to be downsized, with a manufacturer not yet found to take it on.

Green councillor Stephen Grey asked cabinet members: "Is this a sign of trouble for the project?"

In response, the council's director of economic growth Steve Weir said the council retained "absolute confidence in the site".

He said: "We very much have not given up on the idea that there could be battery manufacturing on the site at some point. But what this allows us to do is to be more flexible.

"It aligns the site with the aspirations of the West Midlands Investment Zone and really gives us the best opportunity of attracting the best occupiers who are going to deliver the maximum amount of jobs for the city."

Weir clarified, in response to questions, that investment zone tax incentives were available to firms working in or supporting advanced manufacturing.

"The purpose of this new application is so that planning permission comes into line with the availability of those incentives, which isn't the case at the moment because of having to be specific about battery manufacturing," he said.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.