SUFFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL HAS NO FORMAL PLANS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING POINTS

Suffolk and Norfolk County Councils have no formal plans for electric charging points says LGA Lib Dems FOI survey

According to a recent Freedom of Information request by LGA Lib Dems, Suffolk andf Norfolk are two of 107 councils** in England and Wales that have no plans to expand their network of charging points for electric vehicles.

Whilst Lib Dem councils such as Bedford have recently announced plans for 300 new charging points; Lib Dem Colchester has changed their planning policy so all new houses have to have external charging points for electric vehicles and the Lib Dem opposition on Lewes District Council persuaded the administration to ensure that the Local Plan has a requirement for all new buildings to have electric charging points for vehicles be that residential or commercial buildings, Suffolk and Norfolk two of the country's large rural authorities appear to have closed their minds to the need to plan for the switch to electric vehicles and reduce emissions on local congested roads. Liberal Democrats are either rolling out new charging points or are campaigning for developers to install them as a condition of planning permission. A good example is charging points in council owned car parks.

Whilst accepting that national government and the private sector have a key roles to play in planning and supporting the charging infrastructure; and we all know that councils face serious financial challenges, this survey does beg to ask questions about Suffolk Council's wider transport strategy!

Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Baroness Jenny Randerson added:

"Unless there is urgent action to tackle out of control transport emissions, our environment and the health of future generations will suffer. People deserve better, and Liberal Democrats demand better. Given electric and low emissions vehicles are key to tackling climate change, it is deeply concerning that over one hundred local authorities across the country have no plans to increase the number of charging points"

Download a list of these authorities.

Source: LGA Lib Dems - March 27, 2019

END