Community Leaders in Peasedown St John have welcomed the news that the village’s first ever EV (Electric Vehicle) charging hubs for public use are to be installed next year.

WECA, the West of England Combined Authority, is due to release funding that would allow rural communities across the district to have better access to electric charging points for their vehicles.

Cllr Gavin Heathcote (Independent, Peasedown St John) said: “This is fantastic news! We’ve been liaising with staff from WECA and officers at B&NES Council to ensure that some of the new Green Recovery Fund is spent in Peasedown St John.

“The plans at the moment are to have EV charging hubs installed in two locations in the village – Greenlands Road Car Park and Beacon Hall Car Park.

“We’re continuing to liaise with WECA over the exact installation date for next year.”

As of the end of September 2023, there were around 900,000 fully electric cars on UK roads. More than 265,000 battery-electric cars were registered in 2022, a growth of 40% on 2021.

For residents considering driving an EV, access to charging infrastructure is a key decision-influencing issue. Households with off-street parking have permitted development rights to install a home charger, providing access to convenient and lowest cost EV charging. However, if a resident is in the 33% (UK average) of households without access to off-street parking, they will not be able to install a home charger and must rely on the public charging network.

Cllr Karen Walker (Independent, Peasedown) added: “Each of our new Peasedown EV Charging Hubs will provide two or more fast chargers (7 to 22kW & two sockets/charger) with 24hr accessible public charging.

“These new hubs are in addition to much of the work we’ve already in Peasedown to greater a more ‘greener’ and ‘cleaner’ living environment – from forthcoming upgrades to our bus stops and more than 500 trees being planted across the community since 2020.”

The Councillors will be keeping residents updated as to the exact date in 2024 when the new EV charging hubs will be installed via their monthly e-newsletter.

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