Decision date for new JLR venture

A decision on a £355 million Jaguar Land Rover engine plant in Wolverhampton is due to be made just days before Christmas, it can be revealed today.

Bosses at South Staffordshire Council said they were working to bring the plan before councillors at a meeting on December 20.

If approved it will give the luxury car maker the green light to begin building the 800,000 sq ft engine plant at the i54 early in the New Year.

The scheme will create 750 jobs and is the most significant private sector investment in Wolverhampton for decades.

While the i54 business park is the responsibility of Wolverhampton City Council, the Fordhouses site falls within South Staffordshire, leaving the district council to decide on permission.

Work is expected to last until 2014. Wolverhampton and Staffordshire County councils are to share the cost of £36.7m of work to provide access from the M54 motorway. Wolverhampton will also pay for a £3m revamp of the Vine traffic island on the A449 Stafford Road. JLR's neighbours will be aerospace firm Moog among others.

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