Michelin’s plans to modernise its Dundee factory to secure its long-term future go on public display from today.
The company has lodged a pre-planning application with Dundee City Council outlining two new development zones at its Baldovie site for the manufacturing and storage of tyres.
As part of the consultation process, the plans are on display to give the public and other interested parties the opportunity to give their views.
The event is taking place at the Michelin Training Centre on Baldovie Road.
The company stressed the plans for a new southern manufacturing and tyre storage wing to the factory and major earthworks to create a flood storage area on the western boundary are at an early stage.
The building extensions being considered comprise 20,000 square metres of additional process/storage with 300 square metres of offices, plus a 2,000-square-metre extension to an existing process building.
A spokesman for Michelin said: “As a manufacturing company we continually review and challenge our strategies for future competitiveness.
“Michelin Dundee is investigating ways of improving factory performance to build on over 40 years of success to date.
“Factory improvements are required to deliver competitive performance in the future, and to achieve this extensions to current buildings are required for the manufacturing and storage of tyres.”
Michelin is one of Dundee’s major employers with around 800 staff, and the Baldovie plant has emerged from some difficult times.
The plant had been earmarked for closure but was granted a reprieve from the executive board and went on to become one of the global tyre giant’s most efficient facilities after an operational overhaul.
Its future was boosted by the creation of two giant wind turbines to generate electricity for the plant and slash its energy costs in a move that improved its profitability and secured its existence.
Prospects were further raised when three years ago it received a multi-million-pound cash injection to establish a new production line for the company’s flagship environmentally-friendly low-rolling-resistance tyres.
The company is not commenting on timescales for the new development, job creation prospects or the value of the potential investment in the site.
These details are not expected until the first quarter of next year and also depend on the project being approved.
In a recent interview factory manager John Reid said he was positive about the future of the 42-year-old plant.
He added: “We believe we have good ideas that will soon be able to form a new and positive strategy for the development of the Michelin Dundee factory.”