Electric vehicle charging points to be rolled out in Tonbridge and Malling in the spring
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council will be installing up to 32 electric vehicle charging points in six of its car parks across the borough this spring. They will be the first charging points installed in council car parks and will provide charging facilities for residents and visitors to the area.
Each car park will have a minimum of four charging points and the charge rate will vary based on the car park location, time parked and available power network capacity. The car parks due to have chargers installed are:
- Bailey Bridge Road, Aylesford
- Bradford Street, Tonbridge
- Council offices, Kings Hill
- River Lawn Road, Tonbridge
- Sovereign Way North, Tonbridge
- Upper Castle Fields, Tonbridge
The announcement comes as Department of Transport figures show a 57 per cent year on year increase in ultra-low emission vehicles licensed in the borough, with 1,142 cleaner cars on the roads. Tonbridge and Malling has also been assessed by Climate Change UK as being among the top councils in the country for delivering carbon reduction measures.
TMBC will be working in partnership with Connected Kerb to deliver the initial phase of the charger roll out which is being delivered at no cost to the council. More chargers will be delivered in a second phase later in the year as part of a countywide scheme led by Kent County Council.
The council hopes that boosting the number of charging points will support the switch to electric vehicles and the wider goals set out in its climate change strategy. Other initiatives include tree planting schemes, providing discount solar panel installation, and improving recycling rates which, according to recent government figures, are already the best in Kent.
TMBC’s Cabinet member for environment and climate change, Cllr Robin Betts says: ‘It’s a real step forward to have electric vehicle charging points easily available to residents and visitors alike, which in turn I hope will encourage people to invest in electric and hybrid cars in the future.’
‘Working in partnership with Connected Kerb and KCC will be an important step in the challenge to meet our key climate change targets and responsibilities for the borough and the early rollout of the electric vehicle charging points signifies good progress.’