The Council’s Planning Committee resolved to grant planning permission for the outline plans on 11 January, and then referred its decision to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove MP, due to the scale of the proposals and the location in the green belt.  

Councillor Andrew Day, Leader of Warwick District Council said:

“The speed of this decision is a clear endorsement by the Government that these Gigafactory plans are a national priority. Mr Gove has cleared the way for efforts to be focused on securing the right battery manufacturer to take on this vitally important facility. The ambition is simply to ignite a new industrial revolution, to attract fresh investment in the automotive sector, and to create thousands of highly skilled jobs for South Warwickshire.”