Coventry's ruling Labour group has assured councillors and residents there will be many high-quality, well-paid jobs at the gigafactory development replacing Coventry Airport.

The party, which formed a minority administration after losing overall control of the council in the May 7 elections, has dismissed doubts cast on the scheme by Reform UK, who believe it could be a case of "overpromising, under-delivering and watching another green dream turn into a costly white elephant."

The aim is for the airport, which closed on June 11, to be transformed into Greenpower Park, a major manufacturing hub for clean-energy technologies, such as batteries for electric cars and drones. The council and developers say it expected to generate around 6,000 jobs.

Outline permission was approved in March 2022 by Warwick District Council at the Baginton site. This was followed by detailed planning permission being granted in April.

But there are concerns over whether the ambitious scheme will ever come to fruition.

At a full meeting of Coventry City Council, Cllr Jennifer Wells said: "Does the Cabinet member agree that despite marginalising 30 viable businesses for the gigafactory, whose future is highly doubtful, the council remains confident?

"Is that genuine high confidence or the classic Keir Starmer confidence over overpromising, under-delivering and watching another green dream turn into a costly white elephant?"

The council's deputy leader Lynnette Kelly, who is the Cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change, responded: "We cannot promise a fixed number of jobs on that site. We cannot promise how big the factory is going to be, because these are unknowns. These are things for the future.

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"It is a development, and if I was to say there'll be 6,000 jobs and we deliver 5,999, you'll stand up there and call me a failure. So that's not what I'm going to do. We will do our best to deliver good quality jobs for the people of this city.

"I'll remind you Coventry Airport is actually not in Coventry, it's just outside. But nevertheless, the people of Coventry are quite capable of going over the border to get jobs in the neighbouring council areas. And I'm sure they will do. The jobs that will be created there will be many, they'll be high quality jobs, well-paid jobs, and I look forward to the development there being a success for ourselves and our neighbours."

Conservative group leader John Blundell then asked: "Is the Cabinet member aware that there are still businesses up there facing difficulty, and will she agree to meet with representatives of those businesses?

"The reason I say this is because I was there at the last meeting of the Coventry Airport Consultative Committee, when it was made clear to me, in no uncertain terms, that there still remained significant difficulties."

Cllr Kelly replied: "So I've been told that there's only three of the remaining businesses that are still in difficulty. If it's more than that, I'll tell the officers off because they gave me the wrong number. But I am more than happy to meet them and see what we can do to assist them further.

"They have known since 2022 that the airport was closing and their businesses have had to relocate. So they have had some time. However, I understand it's not always easy to do that. It's outside our area and we may need to go to Warwickshire County Council and see what they are able to do for those businesses.

"And just as a reminder for people who are may have some residual concerns about the airport being closed at all. There used to be passenger flights in and out of that airport, and Tui wanted to build a proper passenger terminal so they could have regular flights in and out of the airport.

"And what happened? The people that lived near the airport created such a stink that Warwick District Council would not give them planning permission. They appealed twice and got turned down. So they weren't allowed to have a proper passenger terminal there.

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"From that moment, that airport was doomed. There was no way that you could have decent passenger services in and out of an airport that hasn't got a proper passenger terminal.

"So, lots of people have known the airport was going to close for a long time. It became definite in 2022. But, yes, I'm more than happy to meet with those businesses and see if there's any assistance we can give them going forward."

The gigafactory site lies within the Coventry and Warwick Investment Zone (CWIZ), a key strategic area of nearly 250 hectares (616 acres) straddling Coventry City and Warwick District. It consists of four sites: Greenpower Park, SEGRO Park Coventry, Whitley South and Whitley East.

Coventry City Council has said that four firms are currently "exploring interest" in the gigafactory.