A Verbal update from officers on the progress of EV2.
Minutes:
Members received an update from the officers on the EV2 Progress Update.
The council’s current EV provision comprise of 16 double chargers across eight sites, this currently provides 32 individual charging points. The council recently applied for funding in order to facilitate installation of additional EV chargers across the council’s car parks in order to increase the infrastructure within the borough.
The funding was approved and the on-street residential charge point scheme and this is being funded by the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). The recently approved funding can provide up to 192 additional EV bays across 23 sites. A combination of single and double chargers were selected. The single charges were selected for the council’s multi-storey car parks due to their slimmer design. The scheme that will fund this project was designed to support the delivery of EVs and help ensure the transition is integrated to wider local transported community needs across locations by residents who are unable to arrange for their own off-street chargers due to the lack of off-street parking provisions. Locations where additional chargers can be installed were therefore determined by the funding requirements and the agreed capacity available and viable locations and this included a requirement for them to be primarily in a residential areas where most of the properties do not benefit from off-street parking. The scheme does not support charge points intended to be used primarily by commuters or visitors and the destinations style locations such as shopping centres.
OZEV approved EV chargers for up to 192 bays in the following wards:
Haldens – up to 20 bays
Handside – up to 12 bays
Hatfield Central – up to 26 bays
Hatfield South West – up to 8 bays
Howlands – up to 10 bays
Panshanger – up to 36 bays
Peartree – up to 52 bays
Welwyn East – up to 8 bays
Welwyn West – up to 20 bays
This totals to 192 bays where electricity is provided by 105 charging units. 87 double chargers were selected which will provide electricity to 174 bays and 18 single chargers, which is 18 bays, 6 of them for Hatfield Multi-Storey car park and 12 for Campus West car park.
It was noted that the OZEV scheme has the following criteria to be met whilst chargers are in operation under the scheme and only fast chargers that are eligible for funding, in this case it is 7 kilowatts an hour charger. All the locations where the chargers are need to be accessible 24/7 and they must remain free overnight so residents can charge without paying the pay and display fee between 6pm in the evening to 8am in the morning. Also all the bays need to be restricted to a maximum stay of 4 hours, Monday to Sunday. As part of this project the council will be looking to increase EV provisions for Blue badge holders, with a plan to introduce 4 electric vehicle disabled bays, two in Hatfield Multi Storey car park and two in Campus West car park. These bays will be designed as a standard disabled bays with an addition of an EV provision.
The following points were noted:
· Members asked if the bays, are going to be on the streets, council owned car parks or some other destination. Officers stated that on street parking and EV charging falls under Hertfordshire County Council so these will be in Council car parks and any off street bays.
· Members thought that council car parks are classified as destination charging points and not an overnight residential charging points. If they are destination charging points they should be 22 kilowatts and not 7 kilowatts. The borough may have too many EV charging points concentrated in council car parks which are not ideally placed for residents. Officers stated that the car parks in the scheme are not just in the town centre, there are also small car parks which are affiliated with housing schemes and some in neighbourhood shopping parades so these are not all destination car parks. Some of the car parks are a conglomeration of off street bays which may be considered as on street parking.
· Members requested a map and a list of where all these parking provisions are and to have more information on the scheme. Members also asked if they were able to provide comments as Ward Councillors on useful alterations. Officers said that sites plans can be provided for each location but they would not be able to comment on the plans. The scheme has been to Cabinet and the funding for sites has already been approved by OZEV who are supplying the funding. The council are not in a position to select sites that are not approved by OZEV.
RESOLVED:
(unanimous)
That the update be noted.