Council leader says 'playing silly politics' should not come at expense of local jobs
The leader of Warwick District Council has said "playing silly politics" should not come at the expense of local jobs following the publication of an open letter condemning the environmental impact of the proposed investment zones.
Green Party leaders on councils across Warwick district called on local Conservative leaders to come out in direct opposition to the government's announcement that selected areas across the country would benefit from relaxed planning rules and taxes.
The leaders said the zones, which could include the gigafactory at Coventry Airport, will remove environmental protections and reduce biodiversity.
But leader of WDC, Cllr Andrew Day, pointed out that the gigafactory has already been given the go-ahead and so its possible inclusion as an investment zone would not have a significant environmental impact.
"You also need to think about that site in detail - it is an airport. This is not a major piece of biodiversity we are talking about," he told Nub News.
Cllr Day also said it was important to focus on the specifics of the zones before jumping to any conclusions.
"As a principle I think we have got to find different ways of boosting major pieces of infrastructure that we need to boost the carbon zero economy," he added.
"The challenge here is to avoid adopting a political position of being totally against the zones and seeing what is actually on offer.
"We need to take the pragmatic approach and realise that there are a lot of jobs involved with the local economy. We will definitely benefit from that in the long run.
"The devil is in the details with these things."
Cllr Day also said he had responded to Warwickshire Wildlife Trust's concerns about the impact on local biodiversity and had shared his response with party leaders.
"There are 50,000 automotive jobs locally, if we do not continue with a gigafactory those jobs are at risk," he said.
"So taking an ideological decision and saying absolutely no has consequences."
Cllr Day added: "We can play silly politics here but everyone one of those 50,000 jobs is a family, so we need to think seriously here."
Warwickshire County Council
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, leader of Warwickshire County Council, also maintained her position that local Conservative leaders were committed to promoting sustainability.
"The livelihoods of our citizens and the strength of the Warwickshire economy are vitally important to us and any support and action to address challenges in these important areas will certainly not be at the expense of Warwickshire's natural environment," she said in response to local Green party leaders.
"The council is and remains committed to addressing the climate and biodiversity crisis."
She added: "Our commitment to nature remains as does our focus on ensuring that Warwickshire's economy remains competitive and continues to attract investment and jobs for the benefit of our citizens.
"We are equally focussed on the livelihoods of our citizens.
"This council has assembled a package of measures and support to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis during this toughest of economic periods, and we can do this and continue with our ambitious plan of delivering a sustainable Warwickshire.
"There is much yet to play out with regards the national policy direction on matters of net zero and the natural environment, planning, growth and the economy and we will engage in and influence that debate to ensure that what we're already doing and will continue to do is deliver a sustainable Warwickshire that will protect and enhance our natural environment."
Nub News has approached Sir Jeremy Wright for comment
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