MP confirms Gravity site chosen by Tata
Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset confirmed Somerset’s worst kept secret this evening. The MP says Tata have signed a deal to take over the Gravity site just outside Bridgwater.
The Gravity site used to house the old Ordnance factory where the wartime bouncing bomb was loaded with high explosives. The site has been meticulously cleared, cleaned and repurposed.
Tata is the Indian owner of Jaguar Land Rover. The company has chosen the Gravity site for its new gigafactory.
The MP revealed that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held secret talks in May with Natarajan Chandrasekaran of Tata.
Tata asked for £500m of state assistance from the UK, including subsidies for the Somerset factory’s high-energy use. In addition the government will give a one-off grant from the automotive transformation fund.
The new factory will create at least 10,000 new jobs.
Mr Liddell Grainger noted: “we have a huge ready-made site with amazing transport links and the finest workforce in Britain. We also have an extraordinary team at Gravity who have made this possible and the efforts of Sedgemoor District Council also deserve special mention. They pushed for this breakthrough behind the scenes.”
The deal, if confirmed on Wednesday, would come a day before three parliamentary byelections, with the Conservative party braced for defeat in all three. One of the byelections is to be held in Somerset and Frome, a constituency near Tata’s proposed site.
NB. Guardian observation.