COVENTRY’S Gigafactory is one of the West Midlands sites which could be fast-tracked under Government Growth Plans.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng revealed plans to get work on a number of transport schemes in the region to under way before the end of 2023.
The Government said it wanted to work with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to create Investment Zones in the West Midlands, which will help drive economic growth, new homes, and jobs.
Both moves have been welcomed by the Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, and the WMCA.
Other projects which could be fast-tracked following a bids include the HS2 Interchange site in Solihull.
In announcing his Growth Plan, which included energy price caps for both domestic households and businesses, the Chancellor said the Government intended to accelerate delivery of key transport schemes in the region.
Speaking in the House of Commons the Chancellor said the Investment Zones would offer generous, targeted and time-limited tax cuts for businesses, backing them to increase productivity and create new jobs.
These areas would also benefit from further liberalised planning rules to release more land for housing and commercial development, and reforms to increase the speed of delivering development.
The WMCA has been asked by Government to lead and co-ordinate the setting up of zones in the region and the combined authority will now work closely with local councils and other partners to co-ordinate a regional response setting out bids for proposed locations and specific projects within them.
Mr Street said: “The announcement that they will back us by creating dedicated Investment Zones – with a number of very promising potential local sites already highlighted – is great news and will result in local residents and businesses benefiting from lower taxes, faster development and improved economic prospects in the weeks, months and years ahead.
“We have also received a tremendous vote of confidence today in our infrastructure plans with the exciting news that a number of vital regional transport projects will be fast tracked – so we can expect diggers in the ground on the majority of them by the end of 2023.”
