BLAENAU GWENT council chiefs have met with board members of glass bottle making firm CiNER – it has been revealed.

At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council on Thursday, March 21 councillors asked for an update on how the scheme to build a new £390 million bottle making factory at the Rassau Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Ebbw Vale is progressing.

It is hoped the project will create hundreds of jobs for the area.

Labour’s Cllr Tommy Smith said: “I’m not sure if this is the appropriate time, but can I ask the cabinet member for regeneration for an update on CiNER.

Cabinet member for regeneration, Cllr John Morgan told council that a meeting had been held with CiNER earlier in the week.

Cllr Morgan said: “We have an extremely positive meeting with members of the CiNER board.

“We discussed progress that’s been made so far.”

He added that they had an “interesting discussion” on the “HIVE” facility.

Last year the High Value Engineering (HiVE) facility, based in Ebbw Vale received a £9 million investment from the UK Government’s Levelling Up fund.

This investment will allow the council to develop the facility.

Cllr Morgan said: “They wish to support the HIVE and they discussed their social values and how they value their workforce and want to work with the community.

“It’s a project that I’m really excited about coming to Blaenau Gwent.

Director of regeneration and community services Ellie Fry added: “The other thing we were able to pass on was the positivity of the Welsh Government around the project.

“We’re waiting for UK Government to make progress now on their part.

“It was very positive for all round for Blaenau Gwent and Wales.””

Planning permission was granted to Turkish firm CiNER Glass Ltd for the factory in June 2022 by the Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Planning Committee.

In September last year, it was revealed CiNER wanted to make a number of changes to the original planning permission.

To do the company they lodged a section 73 planning application with the council.

These changes were to the “batch building” proposed at the and included rotating it by 90 degrees, with the longer elevations now facing east and west.

This change was to reduce the overall size of the service yard and the overall footprint of the development.

It would also allow the relocation of the warehouse to the end of the main production buildings, forming the preferred linear layout.

A conveyor bridge structure will also be moved from the end of the building to the side.

The amended plans were approved by planning officers under delegated powers at the beginning of February.