Coventry to spend up to £1m refreshing airport plan
Coventry City Council says opening up its proposed gigafactory site to other advanced manufacturers will make the most of its potential as an employment location.
The former Coventry Airport was granted detailed planning permission to be redeveloped as Greenpower Park, a planned £2.5bn battery manufacturing facility, in April this year.
But plans to remove the site’s Green Belt status could open it up to a wider range of advanced manufacturing uses – with the the city council now set to submit a replacement application for the site.
The already-approved Greenpower Park development is a public-private partnership between Coventry City Council and Rigby Group and includes seven manufacturing facilities totalling 5.7m sq ft, intended to create “a centre of excellence for battery technology, advanced manufacturing and clean energy”.
Despite receiving outline permission in 2022, the site remains part of the Green Belt, with “very special circumstances” based on the strategic importance of securing large-scale battery manufacturing capacity used as grounds to secure the approval.
The emerging South Warwickshire Local Plan proposes removing GreenPower Park from the Green Belt and designating it as a “Strategic Employment Site” to support advanced manufacturing, engineering, research and development, and innovation activities.
“This creates an opportunity to secure a broader planning permission that maximises the site’s potential, supports investment and aligns with the objectives of the West Midlands Investment Zone,” said a report, which was put before cabinet earlier this month.
“GreenPower Park already benefits from planning permission for battery manufacturing and associated uses; however, this consent limits the range of occupiers that can be attracted to the site,” said a report, which was put before cabinet earlier this month.
“A new planning permission would enable a broader range of advanced manufacturing, engineering, research and development, innovation and ancillary employment uses, increasing the site’s attractiveness to investors while retaining the ability to deliver a gigafactory.”
Coventry City Council has already committed a total of £2.25m to the site, which has been matched by Coventry Airport, and plans to spend up to £1m preparing the new application.
The city council says the proposed planning application would retain the majority of the existing masterplan, with the scope of the new application set to focus on broadening use classes at the site.
A hybrid application will be submitted by the city council and Rigby Group in due course.
Coventry Airport permanently closed to air traffic in June to make way for the gigafactory, around two years after the site became part of the West Midlands Investment Zone, releasing £23m to get the site ready for onward development.
Work to upgrade power supplies to the park is due to be completed in 2027 and will provide an initial 30MVA of power for the site, increasing to 50MVA after 2030.
