CHANCELLOR Kwasi Kwarteng has announced that the Gravity site just north of Bridgwater could be one of the Government's first new Investment Zones.
Councillor Bill Revans, leader of Somerset County Council has welcomed the Chancellors announcement.
He said: “We need to see the detail of how a new Investment Zone will work, but I am very pleased that Somerset looks like it could be a pioneer for the concept.
“With our plans for the Gravity site, our support for renewables and Hinkley Point C coming on stream later in the decade, we can put Somerset at the heart of the new Green Energy revolution. We have also identified significant growth opportunities in our other major towns. There is a prize here to be seized - and we have our eyes on that prize. “
Councillor Duncan McGinty, leader of Sedgemoor District Council commented: “I broadly welcome Investment Zones for the Somerset. This could be an important tool for Somerset, with significant investment opportunities like Hinkley Point C, and Gravity in Sedgemoor. We will also work extremely hard to make sure that Sedgemoor remains a green and climate-friendly area.”
The former Royal Ordnance Factory north of Bridgwater has been identified as a potential site for a Gigafactory.
The 616-acre site has the potential for an onsite rail terminal and sits by J23 of the M5 motorway. The total project could deliver up to 7,500 skilled jobs in the County.
Simon Clarke, the Levelling Up Secretary, labelled the Investment Zone idea as “nonsense”.
He said: “This whole term trickle-down is such a nonsense and is itself a centre-left mischaracterisation of what this Government is all about. We need to grow the economy because a more successful economy is good for everybody,” he told Sky News.
He called it a “virtuous circle”.
The Chancellor said the Government in talks with local authorities in the West Midlands, Tees Valley, Somerset and other regions to establish new investment zones – areas with lower taxation and planning rules.
The Levelling Up Secretary told Sky News: “These zones will only happen where there is local consent and we’ve been very clear about that in the discussions we’ve been having with local authorities and mayors over recent days.”
He said he hoped to see progress in the coming weeks about where the zones will be created.
“They will only happen where there is a local appetite for them to occur. There will be no top-down imposition of these zones.”
More information on the Gravity Site is available here: Gravity | Explore our next generation smart campus (thisisgravity.co.uk)
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