Electric charging points are to be installed in district council-run car parks across Richmondshire in north Yorkshire as part of 2030 net-zero plans.
The members of the council’s corporate board agreed to a £214,900 scheme to place 20 chargers in a series of car park locations throughout towns in the area.
The council wants more points to come online in future years as the number of EVs in the area increases. Councillors were told that current provision is low with just ten points in total but with the number of electric cars doubling year on year – there were 135,000 on the roads in 2018 – the need is expected to rise dramatically.
Council leader, Councillor Angie Dale said officers had looked where demand would be high and placed new chargers accordingly – but could not accommodate some areas due to a lack of council-run facilities in the north of the district.
She said: “Phase one of our work will see us install 20 points in our car parks, but there will be more on the way.
“We are only looking at provision on council owned land in this phase – we will look beyond that in future installations.”
“It is important that electric vehicle charging infrastructure is not a barrier to the high uptake of new electric vehicles,” added Councillor Philip Wicks, Chair of the Council’s Climate Change Working Group.
“The government has stated that local authorities have a crucial role to play, and this scheme is the start of the council’s plan”
