"Coventry Airport gigafactory plans to be developed after council approval"

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"Coventry Airport gigafactory plans to be developed after council approval"

Postby dutchman » Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:04 pm

A planning application will be submitted later this year

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Plans will be drawn up for a huge gigafactory to build batteries for electric cars following approval from Coventry councillors.

Coventry City Council’s cabinet backed a Joint Venture partnership between the authority and Coventry Airport Ltd at a meeting on Tuesday, February 23.

Plans will now be developed to submit an outline application in 2021.

If successful the site could be up and running for 2025, with the city council saying it will create up to 20,000 jobs and up to £2bn of investment.

While a vision has now been outlined, the plans now need investment.

It is hoped the project would attract funding the government, which is actively pursuing investment in a gigafactory and has made up to £500m available.

Cabinet member for jobs and regeneration Cllr Jim O’Boyle said Coventry Airport had been identified as a site for a gigafactory since 2016.

Speaking at cabinet, he said: “We have always been working hard on this as we knew this is a really vital bit of infrastructure and the jobs it will create, 4,000 directly, up to 20,000 indirectly.

“Putting together this joint venture with the leaseholders of Coventry Airport the Rigby group is to make it very clear to anybody that will listen – particularly the government – that we need to make a decision to help support this business and industry going forward by getting on with the decisions so those businesses can start to invest and prepare for the future.

“2030 is not that far away and that’s when all internal combustion engines will no longer be able to be sold in this country. It takes many years for the development of these vehicles.

“In Europe there are 16 gigafactories that are either built or in the process of being built so we need to crack on with this and make this decision now to support the industry.”

Plans for the airport site could accommodate up to 4.5m sq ft of commercial space.

They have also been backed by the West Midlands Combined Authority.

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Re: "Coventry Airport gigafactory plans to be developed after council approval"

Postby dutchman » Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:05 pm

Yet another council-subsidised white elephant! :fuming:
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Re: "Coventry Airport gigafactory plans to be developed after council approval"

Postby rebbonk » Tue Feb 23, 2021 6:03 pm

I believe that Rigby deliberately ran the airport down in order to develop the land.

Battery plants are often very unpleasant places. Battery production is far from clean.

Expected employee numbers will never materialise.

All in all, I'm not impressed. O'Boyle got his finger in this pie?
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Re: "Coventry Airport gigafactory plans to be developed after council approval"

Postby rebbonk » Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:02 pm

Britain’s National Grid warned on Monday the country’s electricity supply margins are expected to be tight this week.

“We’re forecasting tight margins on the electricity system this week (from tomorrow onwards) owing to a combination of weather-related factors and unavailability of power sources over periods of the day with higher demand,” National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) said via twitter.

Several of the country’s nuclear power plants are currently offline, while there are also forecasts for low output from Britain’s wind farms over the coming days.


Source: https://www.reuters.com/

Relatively warm, half the country inactive and it looks like we'll struggle to meet demand. How on earth do muppets like O'Boyle think we'll cope with all electric cars?
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Re: "Coventry Airport gigafactory plans to be developed after council approval"

Postby Melisandre » Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:31 pm

Iian Ducan Smith does nt want electric cars and does nt think they will take off . He said the used batteries will cause a big polution problem poisoning the ground at land fill sites here especially when we are trying to cut back to save the planet.
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Re: "Coventry Airport gigafactory plans to be developed after council approval"

Postby rebbonk » Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:46 pm

Melisandre wrote:Iian Ducan Smith does nt want electric cars and does nt think they will take off . He said the used batteries will cause a big polution problem poisoning the ground at land fill sites here especially when we are trying to cut back to save the planet.


Not often I agree with IDS... But I share his fears here.
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Re: "Coventry Airport gigafactory plans to be developed after council approval"

Postby dutchman » Wed Sep 08, 2021 8:49 pm

Coventry Airport gigafactory plan sparks objection over 'economic damage to region'

A specialist aviation consultancy based at Coventry Airport has lodged its official objection to huge gigafactory plans in the city.

If built, the new factory at the airport site would make batteries for electric cars and create around 6,000 jobs plus others in the supply chain.

After much talk a formal planning application was submitted in July.

Among those supporting the plans is Business Secretary Kwasi Karteng, however not everyone agrees.

Sky Harbour UK Limited, which supports owner operators and business aircraft with aircraft acquisitions and aircraft management, has lodged its formal objection to planning applications with Warwick District Council and Coventry City Council.

Among the reasons they object are the closure of Coventry Airport, the potential damage to the local economy and a lack of recognition of the "significant historical importance of Coventry Airport".

They also say there has been "significant political pressure to push the application through as quickly as possible".

Steve Ford, CEO of Sky Harbour UK Limited, said: “Speculative property development, often with no defined end user is not limited to Coventry Airport but is evident across the entire country.

"With eight million sq ft of development land being offered as being available at Coventry Airport, Exeter Airport, Norwich Airport and Bournemouth Airport, the Rt Hon Robert Courts MP is right to be concerned, as should the country.

"As an island nation reliant on trade and commerce, we would not dream of filling in all of the harbours. Airports are an integral infrastructure that are worthy of our protection as more electrical propulsion and air mobility solutions emerge over the next decade.”

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Re: "Coventry Airport gigafactory plans to be developed after council approval"

Postby dutchman » Fri Oct 01, 2021 5:11 pm

Pilots taking part in 'fly-in' at Coventry Airport in protest against gigafactory plans

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A number of pilots will be flying in to Coventry Airport this weekend in protest against a planned gigafactory at the airport site.

The proposed factory would make batteries for electric cars and create around 6,000 jobs at the site and others in the supply chain.

Ahead of the closure of objection submissions on Monday (October 4), pilots will be landing at the airport to show their support for the airport.

Organiser Steve Clark, a director at Aerotech Aircraft Maintenance which is based at the airport said: "I would stress this is not an organised event or fly-in; simply a request for individuals to fly into Coventry and show their support to keep the airfield open, and once common sense prevails, move it forward to become a successful regional airport rather than a target for property development."

Weather is currently looking promising for the event and the organisers are hopeful of good attendance, saying a number of people have shown a strong interest in attending.

One of those who will be flying in is Charlotte Bailey, a pilot and aviation journalist, who said: "Nobody is against the amount of jobs or the environmental benefits it will bring but we don't think it is the right location as Coventry is still a viable airfield.

"There are electric planes which are being developed and they need long runways for testing.

"Coventry is an airport which can cater for those, especially when they are in the experimental phase.

"Airports like Coventry are still very much needed."

In attendance will be a De Havilland Vampire, the first British built fighter jet and the last airworthy ex-RAF model of the plane left in the world.

A number of 'exotic' planes are also set to attend, including two Austers, some Piper Cubs and also a Soviet Second World War fighter, a Yak-3.

Visitors arriving by road are welcome too to show their support and are invited to watch the landings at Coventry Aero Club.

Food will be available from the cafe on sight and there is also a BBQ planned for the evening.

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:applause:
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Re: "Coventry Airport gigafactory plans to be developed after council approval"

Postby rebbonk » Fri Oct 01, 2021 5:20 pm

Good luck to them, and I hope 'common sense' does prevail. However, I fear that the nimbys will not realise that an airfield is preferable to a battery factory until it is too late.
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Re: "Coventry Airport gigafactory plans to be developed after council approval"

Postby dutchman » Sun Jan 09, 2022 10:27 pm

Call to find alternative sites for Coventry's electric battery 'gigafactory'

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Campaigners opposing plans for an electric car battery plant which would see an airport close are urging planners to consider alternative sites.

Proposals for the "gigafactory" at Coventry Airport have been submitted and will be considered on Tuesday.

The scheme would see the airfield levelled to make way for the facility.

Losing the site would cause "irreparable damage" to businesses who use it, The Save Coventry Airport group said.

Hundreds of objections have been lodged against the plans including from parish councils, CPRE, the countryside charity and a cross-party parliamentary group which is designed to promote general aviation.

Their concerns include the impact on the green belt, the scale of the development and the loss of the airfield.

But the plans have also been supported by local MPs, unions and the Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street.

The Save Coventry Airport group said it represents airport users and aviation enthusiasts and claimed if the airport is closed, it will never be replaced.

Hundreds of people attended an event on Saturday at the site to show their support.

Joshua Mason-Allen, from the group, said they believe there are better sites for the factory.

"When you look at the plans the applicants have submitted, there are alternative sites within the region, so still protecting those jobs, where this site could be built," he said.

In the plans, the airport and council said an analysis of alternative sites has ruled them out for being too small or not available in the time needed to build the factory which they added is of "a significant urgency" for car producers in the UK.

The outline proposals are due to be examined by Warwick District Council's planning committee on 11 January and council officials have recommended approving them.

:bbc_news:
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