News breaking this week suggests that finally the long awaited ‘Gigafactory’ – an electric car battery factory to be built on the Gravity site, could bring huge investment to the Bridgwater area. Cllr Mick Lerry, Mayor of Bridgwater welcomed the news saying “Finally the Government has agreed to provide investment incentives in the Battery Plant at Gravity. This will support the Electric car industry and support many local high skilled jobs for local people. Bridgwater and Taunton College is ready to train the local workforce needed for this green development. Hopefully this will mean that Britain will catch up with other industrial economies. The huge subsidy needed to secure Tata Motors interest in the Gravity site shows the importance of Government investment for electric cars. It will now be important to make sure that local people and businesses in Bridgwater are ready to take advantage of the green investment at Gravity”.
Deputy Mayor and Youth Portfolio Holder Cllr Jacqui Solomon (Eastover, Labour) said “This exciting development will bring prosperity and opportunity. It will use the existing skills within our workforce and provide future skills development.”
Well Paid Jobs
County Labour Group Leader Cllr Leigh Redman (Bridgwater North & Central) said “Somerset Labour is over the moon following news of the Battery factory being sited in the heart of our County. This investment at Gravity will create a significant number of long term, high value well paid jobs. We need to better understand the business rate retention mechanism but Somerset Council Labour group looks forward to working with officers on this exciting project.”
Delivering a Major Green Development
Town Council Property Portfolio Holder Cllr Tim Mander (Labour, Westover) said “I think this demonstrates the importance of state intervention in delivering a major “green” development project. This gives an insight into the type of projects that an incoming Labour government will be supporting via its multi billion pound Green investment fund. I warmly welcome this project and look to the developers to ensure that every aspect is green and sustainable . The development should ensure increased rail services to Bridgwater Station”
Thousands of local jobs
Bridgwater Town Council Leader Cllr Brian Smedley (Westover, Labour) said “Once again we are facing the promise of a project that is projected to create thousands of jobs in construction. We’ve been through this with Hinkley Point and now Gravity coming on the back of that means Bridgwater is getting a reputation as a safe location for industrial development and particularly in the field of energy and green technology. We welcome the jobs and we want to be an active part of the green economy. We hope that they will be legacy investors and that we can move forward to becoming known in the future as a more consistent high wage economy.”