Plans approved for electric vehicle factory creating up to 150 jobs

Kieran Molloy, Local Democracy Reporter

A company will use a former aircraft hangar to start building electric cars that promise to be a “wholly Welsh-built product” after the local council gave plans consent.

Morris Commercial Ltd has been given permission by Vale of Glamorgan Council to re-use an aircraft hangar in Bro Tathan as “facility for the assembly of electric vehicles”.

In the meeting to approve the development the proposal was overwhelmingly supported by the councillors on the planning committee.

Cllr Nic Hodges said: “It’s about time we had an automotive industry we can count on in Wales.”

This was followed by Cllr Mark Wilson who said: “This is the sort of development that we very much need in southeast Wales”. Cllr Eddie Williams said the proposal has “so many pluses”.

In the same meeting Dana Williams, who spoke on behalf of the company, said the site would be used to make a “wholly Welsh-built product” and the proposal would bring “advanced manufacturing positions” and “high-skill employment” to the local community.

Planning documents for the proposal read: “Morris Commercial Ltd will operate a new electric vehicle assembly facility that is anticipated to generate c. 100 jobs for the workshop area, and a further 50 jobs for non-factory staff and paint shop staff, to the benefit of the local job market.”

It continued: “Whilst the exact breakdown of new jobs is currently unknown it is anticipated that the majority will be direct jobs, with a small proportion of contractor roles.”

The hangar sits on the former Ministry of Defence St Athan airfield, which now sees mixed use between civilian businesses and army and Royal Air Force personnel.

The site will see the production of the Morris JE, which Ms Williams called “an all-electric reimagining of the iconic Morris J Type van”.

She said the company holds “over 6,500 confirmed pre-orders” for the car.

The company representative added that this development represented “precisely the kind of investment Wales needs to make”.

An Aston Martin factory is also located on the wider site of Bro Tathan.