Gloucestershire's rollout of electric vehicle charging points gets under way

By Peter Davison

24 October 2023

Share

The Business Magazine article image for: Gloucestershire's rollout of electric vehicle charging points gets under way

EV charging station for electric car in concept of green energy and eco power produced from sustainable source to supply to charger station in order to reduce CO2 emission .

Work on installing 1,000 electric vehicle charging points in Gloucestershire over the next three years is underway.

More than 20 sites were chosen by Gloucestershire County Council to be part of the first phase of the rollout after residents were invited to give their feedback and work started on the first five sites around the county on Monday 16 October.

The first five sites are in: Stroud Road, Gloucester; Churchill Road, Gloucester; Abbey Terrace, Winchcombe; Elwyn Road, Cheltenham; Church Street, Newent.

Work is expected to take about three weeks to complete and the chargepoints are due to be operational in the week commencing 6 November.

The programme is part of the county council’s strategy to tackle the climate emergency, helping Gloucestershire to reduce the impact of transport on our climate and improve local air quality. The scheme is funded by the county council and the Department for Transport’s On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS).

Greater availability of public chargepoints will make it easier for residents to switch to EVs. However with one third of homes in Gloucestershire lacking the ability to charge an EV on a driveway, the council and government are prioritising chargepoints in these locations.

These new chargepoints will be installed in public areas, giving residents greater confidence that they will be able to charge their EV either near their home, while working or when out and about in the county.

Around one third of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Gloucestershire comes from transport and private vehicle use accounts for over half of this (55 per cent). However switching from fossil fuel to electric vehicles has the potential to reduce these figures significantly.

The county council has appointed Connected Kerb to install and run its network of chargers. Residents can share their views on where they think new charging points should be located by registering their interest here.

Cllr David Gray, cabinet member for environment and planning at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “I’m delighted that the rollout for our electric vehicle charging points has now started.

"Electric vehicles reduce emissions and noise pollution, as well as improve air quality.

“These charging points will provide accessible facilities for residents who do not have off-street parking and help to create a greener Gloucestershire.”

Visit Hampshire Biz News for bright, upbeat and positive business news from the county

Chris Pateman-Jones, CEO of Connected Kerb, said: “Local communities are the beating heart of the EV transition which is why listening to their feedback on EV charging proposals is so important.

"Our aim is make EV charging inclusive, reliable and convenient for everyone, particularly residents without a driveway, so all input is invaluable.

"This is a great project that will encourage further EV uptake and accelerate Gloucestershire’s efforts to tackle climate change.”

By Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country.

An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts.

Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.