Bath and North East Somerset Council was approached by a “local manufacturing company” — which has not been publicly identified — about buying the Entry Hill Depot site, a council-owned plot of land in a former stone quarry next to the Entry Hill Golf Course.

A council report stated: “The proposed purchaser is seeking initial consent for a 1,000 sqm factory at Entry Hill, with an additional 450 sqm warehouse space and a further 450 sqm dedicated to ancillary offices, toilets, canteen, and staff facilities.

“The new space will house an area of production, while the main research and corporate office facility will remain at their current site. Space permitting, the factory building will be designed with further expansion in mind.”

Council cabinet member for resources Richard Samuel approved a plan, in a council decision on April 13, to give council officers the authority to sell or lease the site to the company without wider marketing of the site.

The manufacturer currently employs about 150 people in Bath and is looking to expand. It is believed that the new factory would lead to the creation of 15 new jobs. Without a site in Bath for the factory, the council report warned that these jobs could instead be lost to Devizes.

The council believes the new jobs could add £1.4m to the local economy, and if the sale to the company went ahead without conditions and without putting it on the open market, the council could get the money for the site more quickly.

But the report warned that an unconditional sale would mean the intended use and economic benefit could not be guaranteed, but said that the company was “fully committed” to the factory plan.

The amount the depot is sold for will be decided by a “red book” valuation and the sale will be subject to overage conditions in the case of the site being used for residential purposes instead.

Some trees were cut down on the site on April 14 to combat ash dieback, something which fanned speculation on social media as it coincided with the decision to sell or lease the site being published.

Louise McFarland, the Conservative candidate for the local Widcombe and Lyncombe ward, who went to the site said: “It does seem like a strange coincidence that the two happen on the same day.”

But Chris Major, director of Place Management at the council, said: ”Programmed felling is ongoing at Entry Hill for trees infected with Ash Dieback Disease. These works are being carried out in the interest of public safety and prioritised as a result of an affected tree falling last year.”