Plans for rail link to Somerset gigafactory site in the balance

Efforts to connect a major Somerset employment site to the national rail network remain in the balance until plans for a new 'gigafactory' are signed off. The Gravity enterprise zone lies on the former Royal Ordnance factory site between the villages of Puriton and Woolavington, east of the M5 near Bridgwater[1].

Sedgemoor District Council[2] and its successor Somerset Council[3] have been working to deliver the site, spending £10.3m on a new access road[4] linking the site to the A39 Bath[5] Road (which opened in October 2021) and creating a local development order (LDO) in December 2021[6] to speed up the process of delivering different elements of the new campus. But efforts to deliver a new rail link to the site - which were originally priced at £50m - remain at a standstill until the potential occupier of the site has signed on the dotted line.

News broke in mid-July, on the eve of the Somerton and Frome by-election[7], that Tata (which owns Jaguar Land Rover) intends to build a £4bn electric vehicle battery plant on the 616-acre "smart campus"[8] - with the UK government providing £500m[9] to pump-prime the site. Despite public statements by the government and local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger[10], Tata has yet to formally confirm that it will be moving onto the site.

As part of the masterplan for the Gravity site, the council envisioned a new rail link into the north-western corner of the campus, with a depot for freight services and a new station which would connect passengers to the mainline between Bristol and Exeter. The trackbed for the original Royal Ordnance rail link remains in place, with space for a single track running over the M5 north of junction 23.

Due to the location of the spur, passengers services serving the site would most likely board from Highbridge[13] and Burnham[14] railway station - with Bridgwater passengers having to ride up the line to this station and then take a connecting service into the site.

Planned land uses within the Gravity smart campus near Bridgwater under the LDO Planned land uses within the Gravity smart campus near Bridgwater under the LDO

The Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) estimated in October 2021 that it will cost £50M[15] to "restore the rail link to the site for passenger and freight services" - a sum which may have increased drastically since then due to high inflation and supply chain issues within the construction sector.

The council said it was not able to confirm whether the rail link plans would be taken forward until Tata has confirmed it would be occupying the Gravity site. A spokesman said: "There has been no confirmation of a gigafactory site, yet so this isn’t something we can comment on."

References

  1. ^ Bridgwater (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  2. ^ Sedgemoor District Council (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  3. ^ Somerset Council (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  4. ^ spending £10.3m on a new access road (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  5. ^ Bath (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  6. ^ creating a local development order (LDO) in December 2021 (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  7. ^ the Somerton and Frome by-election (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  8. ^ intends to build a £4bn electric vehicle battery plant on the 616-acre "smart campus" (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  9. ^ the UK government providing £500m (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  10. ^ local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  11. ^ Calls for more frequent bin collections in Somerset "lack clarity" (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  12. ^ Somerset wetlands plans could lead to stunning new reservoir walk (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  13. ^ Highbridge (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  14. ^ Burnham (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
  15. ^ estimated in October 2021 that it will cost £50M (www.somersetlive.co.uk)

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