Electric vehicle charging point numbers to increase in Telford and Wrekin

Communities, customer and commercial services director Felicity Mercer said the use of rechargeable cars and vans was rising in the borough, so the authority wants the supply of outlets to keep pace.

She and climate change and sustainability co-ordinator Harjot Rayet were updating councillors on plans to reduce emissions, a year after Telford and Wrekin Council declared a “climate emergency” and pledged to become a carbon-neutral organisation by 2030.

Environment scrutiny committee member Thomas Janke said the current number of points was “quite honestly, inadequate”, and colleague Tim Nelson said the “piecemeal” addition of new charging points would not be sufficient, and said he hoped a borough-wide strategy was being developed.

Ms Mercer also said the council was aiming to replace its vehicles with low-emission models as they reach their end of their working lives, with a formal announcement about this due on Friday.

“We are looking, in September, to launch a procurement for electric vehicle charging points in our car parks because electric vehicle usage is increasing and we want to make sure there are sufficient points,” she added.

Thomas Janke welcomed that, and asked how many charging points the council would aim to procure.

Ms Rayet said she didn’t know the specific number, but said the Local Plan – the borough-wide document that maps out where residential, commercial, industrial and other development should take place – is due for a review later this year.

She said: “There will be a climate change policy that references electric vehicle charging points for residential and non-residential properties. There will be a number put against those.”

The council’s officer leading on climate change and transport will speak to the committee at its next meeting. Councillor Nelson asked: “Will he be telling us the council’s strategic approach to electric transport? Not just piecemeal, ‘there’s going to be this electric forecourt’, or ‘there’s this housing estate that’s going to have this electric supply’, but the overall strategy across the borough?”

Ms Rayet said she would notify him that members would ask.

A presentation by her and Ms Mercer that explained that the government has legislated for net-zero emission by 2050.

Telford and Wrekin Council’s July 2019 climate emergency declaration committed to making the local authority carbon neutral 20 years before that, and included an aspiration for the borough to do the same.

Projects that pre-date that declaration include installing a four-megawatt solar farm at Wheat Leasows and converting 20,000 street lights to LED bulbs – a project Ms Mercer said was 98 per cent complete. Plans for the “next year or so”, include retrofitting council buildings to incorporate low-carbon energy systems and implementing a cycle-to-work scheme for employees, she added.