During the coming months Electric Vehicle charging points are due to be installed in Wealden District Council car parks, including Croft Road in Crowborough.
Feasibility work has been underway at a number of car parks across the Wealden district by the Council’s chosen charging contractor Connected Kerb.
The following car parks are now confirmed for the first phase of locations: Lower Road in Forest Row, The Willows in Alfriston, Croft Road in Crowborough, Mill Road in Heathfield, Luxford Road in Uckfield, North Road in Pevensey Bay, Greyhound in Wadhurst and Horse Fields in East Dean.
Also included are bays in the Vicarage Lane car park in Hailsham and bays in the South Road car park, also in Hailsham.
The Wealden District Council (WDC) have said there is potential to expand to an additional 22 sites throughout the district in subsequent phases.
(In May the Council said Pilmer Road was going to be included – the Council have said prior to appointment of Connected Kerb and their detailed assessments Pilmer Road was considered. These initial phase one sites were always subject to change and following assessment it was decided to prioritise Croft Road over Pilmer Road in this phase. The continued ambition is for EV charging to be included in all WDC owned / managed car parks – so Pilmer Road will be picked-up in later phases).
The installations are part of the Council’s ongoing efforts to support the transition to low carbon transport and to improve local air quality. The aspiration is that all residents who drive electric vehicles (EVs), or are considering making the switch, have convenient access to EV charging.
Within Wealden there are currently 23 EV charge points distributed throughout the district and the Council recognises the need to provide additional public charge points for residents – particularly as 24% of households with a vehicle park on the street overnight.
At the heart of Wealden District Council’s climate emergency declaration sits the requirement to transform its transport systems to low and zero emission alternatives, with the intention of working toward net-zero CO2 by 2050 or earlier for both the Council and the Wealden district area.
In 2020, transport emissions account for 45% of total Wealden district emissions – 16% higher than the national average.
Recent research has identified that the potential demand for EV charging across East Sussex will increase over the next 10 years with numbers of EVs locally going from 3,500 to 34,000 (by 2025), to 98,000 by 2030.
Almost 40% of all EVs first registered in East Sussex in 2021 were in Wealden.
Councillor Pam Doodes, the Council’s lead member for Climate Change, said:
It is really positive that our collaboration with Connected Kerb has taken a major step forward and we can announce the first phase of electric vehicle charging in our car parks will be coming soon.
Enabling more people to easily recharge their electrical vehicles will be a significant step along the way to achieving our goal of reducing carbon output across the district.
Cllr Doodes
Published on Thursday 27th October. Revised to included clarification from WDC about Pilmer Road on 28th.
Will they be suitable for all makes of vehicle, or only certain ones? Not having universal ones in motorway service stations has caused problems.
Croft Road, Crowborough and other WDC car parks – How many bays and what charging capacity? If 24% of cars in Wealden park on the street – how many is that? People who need to drive to work will need to charge at night, and are unlikely to want to get up at 1.00am to do so. Charging window probably no more than five or six hours a night. Intentions of WDC are positive, but may I suggest that WDC also – and urgently – engage in some simple arithmetic to avoid future disappointment and unhappiness.