Northumberland gigafactory set to secure planning permission

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Plans for a £2.6bn gigafactory that could create 3,000 new jobs are set to be approved next week.

The proposals for an electric battery plant at Cambois, near Blyth in Northumberland, are set to go before the planning committee at Northumberland County Council on Tuesday.

It’s hoped the factory could create 3,000 direct jobs and another 5,000 in its supply chain, though more than £1bn needs to be raised by new firm Britishvolt to make the plans a reality.

The planning meeting will come just a few days after it was announced that battery firm Envision AESC was to build a second gigafactory at nearby Sunderland to supply growing electric vehicle production at the Nissan plant.

A report for development bosses on the local authority’s strategic planning committee said: “The proposed Gigaplant will produce world class lithium-ion batteries with the first phase of the facility intended to be operational by 2023 and at full capacity by 2028.

“Once at full capacity, the Gigaplant will have a production capability of 30GWh, equating to approximately 300,000 electric vehicle battery packs each year intended primarily for the automotive industry.”

The £2.6bn needed to fund the scheme would make it the biggest single industrial investment in the North East since Nissan set up shop on Wearside in the 1980s.

Once production starts, the new Blyth factory is expected to run 24 hours a day, with the majority of staff on site working across three shifts.

The scheme has been backed by Choppington Parish Council, West Bedlington Parish Council and Blyth Town Council, while East Bedlington Parish Council hoped approval could pave the way for rail services to Cambois.

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Comments from the public praised the prospect of regenerating an ‘industrial wasteland’, as well as creating jobs and instilling a ‘sense of pride for the local community’.

But some have also opposed the scheme, claiming the factory would look like a prison.

But experts at the county council’s planning department recommended the proposals, including a second application for energy infrastructure, be approved.