Shropshire Council to borrow £10 million in bid to coax Jaguar Land Rover to county

Shropshire Council will borrow the money to get work started on the planned Oswestry Innovation Park.

The council's deputy leader Steve Charmley confirmed the move.

It comes after the project failed to gain any backing in the latest round of Marches Local Enterprise Partnership funding.

Councillor Charmley said the council is keen for big employers to invest in Shropshire – and has been spurred on by the news JLR revealed last week it is looking for a base in the Midlands.

The company already employs 1,000 at the new engine factory built on the i54 site at junction two of the M54.

It is now looking to expand in the Midlands, with a £450m investment in electric vehicle production that will create 10,000 jobs.

Councillor Charmley said Shropshire needed to benefit from that investment, which will bring both direct jobs and employment for support industries.

He said council officers would ask JLR for talks.

He added: "We will invest what's needed to bring the county to an investable level.

"The thing with the LEP money was that it was never a guarantee, and that's why we had a plan B in place, so now we are looking to take out a loan in order for the infrastructure to move in.

"There are several companies that are hovering around and looking for a base, and we need to have places ready for that sort of investment."

As £10 million was being sought from government funding, the deputy leader said he believed that sum would be the amount the council would look to borrow within the next 12 months.

The near 60-acre site across the A483 is currently agricultural land.

Councillor Charmley said the park could create up to 3,000 jobs, and heralded it as "the key project for economic prosperity countywide".

He said Shropshire is an "ideal location" for major investors, adding: "Our aim really is to promote Shropshire as a place for investment. We've got so much going for us."