The Forest of Dean District Council has received £199,853 of funding to install 33 EV chargepoints across the district in council-owned car parks.
Councillor Chris McFarling, cabinet member for climate emergency, said: “As a council committed to tackling the climate emergency head-on, it’s fantastic to be able to announce this funding, which will allow us to install state-of-the-art EV charging points in car parks across the district.
“Cars are a significant contributor of emissions, so it’s vital that we encourage people to move towards greener forms of transport if we want to reach the council’s goal of reaching net-zero by 2030. However, we recognise that for people to be able make the switch from petrol and diesel to electric they need the reassurance this infrastructure provides.
“This is particularly the case for households who do not have access to off-street parking and the rural nature of the district means we don’t have the same infrastructure capabilities as urban areas. Hence why these new charging points are a fantastic opportunity for us to create a greener district by providing local people with easily accessible places to charge their cars.”
Thirty-three fast EV charging points will be installed across the district. This equates to 66 charging sockets. The charging points are part-funded by the ‘On-Street Residential ChargePoint Scheme’ which is designed to help Local Authorities deliver EV charging infrastructure for residents who do not have access to off-street parking.
The council will now begin the process of procuring a contractor with a deadline for the points to be installed and activated by the end of January 2025.
