Harlow Council set to install public electric vehicle charging points
Business / Mon 6th Sep 2021 at 09:19am
HARLOW Council is set to agree to the installation of electric vehicle charging points in car parks it owns around the town.
A report, which will go to this Thursday’s (9 September) Cabinet meeting, recommends that the council enters into a contract with BP Pulse for the supply of electric vehicle charge points in the following pay and display car parks:
· Town Park School Lane car park
· Garden Terrace Road, Old Harlow
· Minchin Road, The Stow
· Tawneys Road, Bush Fair
· Tilegate Road, Bush Fair
· The Stow service bays
If agreed the installation of the points will meet one of the commitments made when Harlow councillors declared a climate change emergency in July 2019. The report also states that more public charging points will encourage residents to move to no emission vehicles by 2050 which is part of the Government’s “Road to Net Zero” strategy.
By 2030, it is anticipated that there could be between approximately 6,000 and 14,000 battery electric vehicles in Harlow, with between 3,000 and 6,500 being parked on-street.
It is also recommended that a working group is setup to look at the installation of charging points in residential estates and other locations across the town. The installation of points in housing estates would be subject to consultation with residents.
The report will be presented by Councillor Alastair Gunn, portfolio holder for environment, he said: “This report will bring forward a key climate change pledge made by Councillors when they agreed a climate emergency in July 2019. With electric vehicle ownership rising quickly and to make it easier for Harlow residents to own an electric car, there needs to be a mixture of public, private and workplace charging points.
As an owner of a number of car parks in the town, we can help provide those public points and we are hopeful that more locations can be identified in the future working with both residents and businesses.
These charge points will be cost neutral to Harlow Council with 75 percent of funding being achieved through grants offered by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) and 25 percent being match funded by BP Pulse. If the report is agreed an application to OZEV will be submitted to secure the rest of the funding.”
James Humphreys
2021-09-06 11:37:02
Great news. However, I really hope they don’t go down the route of just installing rapid chargers like many service stations have done. While these are great they can only be used by fully electric cars, and not hybrids with Type 2 chargers leaving many car owners behind.
The man
2021-09-07 07:37:26
Personally I would prefer my refuse collected on time, the pavements repaired to help the elderly, the grass cut on the verges. You know all the basics that councils were invented for, done first to a high standard before “pet” projects. I assume there is a long winded answer as to why the council feels it should be doing this. Yes I understand a private contractor will probably pay to install, and maybe the council may even get a cut of the proceeds, but it will still require council resources which could probably be put to better use.
The man
2021-09-07 07:39:29
By the way “grants” are still our taxes
Tony Durcan
2021-09-07 18:30:28
Whilst this is a step in the right direction it’s just simple not good enough. Why isn’t the Tory council looking across the whole of Harlow not just certain car parks. We’re are the businesses and other large owners of car parks such as the water gardens and the Harvey centre involved. We’re is the science park and enterprise hubs. Local schools and even the hospital. We’re told under the Tories it’s a brave new world but come on this isn’t bold or aspirational. If we’re going to do let’s do it together.
David K
2021-09-10 05:42:02
Tony, there is absolutely nothing brave or aspirational the UK government has done in almost 50 years. Brave? No. Never. Aspirational? Certainly not. Installing a few plugs around a town city 80 thousand or so people, of which maybe 60% drive with an even lower number of electric car users isn’t either of those things - in fact, it’s stupid and wasteful. I say that these units will not only be vandalised but probably stolen at some stage since, well, unfavourable people will see more value in scrap than what the actual unit offers. The government - not just councils here - are not doing enough for the people. Too many rich kids grow up and get flung into a politicians job title without ever having to work the grindstone. They’ve no idea what hard work is, no idea how it feels to work a 40 - 50 hour work week. They couldn’t comprehend how it feels to wake up at 5am, head out to work and come hone at 6pm daily - have just enough time to eat, shower and hit the bed. Our government leaders are placed in the positions by themselves, for themselves. From what I learned, a government should be the voice of the people - by the people. And yet, I don’t see anyone like us, up there making the right choices on our behalf. Only things that can benefit themselves with little to no effect on their lives - only more anguish and suffering to ours. I say it’s high time that we start electing more individuals who are looking at the right issues, the families who cannot pay their rent due to higher taxation, the single mothers who are going hungry or often unsupported because their partner left them in the dark and the council or local governments won’t give any assistance, the elderly who cannot quiet look after themselves but shouldn’t be flung in a care home and forgotten about. There are too many examples, and yet - here we are - time and time again, with silver spoon fed scarecrows like Boris running the show and the rest of us propping up the country by working our 9-5’s with little time to do anything else... one time before I raised these concerns and I was told that I should educate myself a little more on the subject matter. Tell me, when - when do you think I have the time when I work 12 - 13 hour days over 6 days a week? I barely have enough time to see my kids, you think I want to spend it reading and learning about political nonsense?
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