Chichester not signing up to county-wide electric vehicle charging strategy

Every other district and borough council in West Sussex has signed up to the strategy, which was developed after the government announced the sale of petrol and diesel cars would be banned from 2040 – and possibly as early as 2032.

By 2030, around 161,000 electric vehicles are expected to have taken to the county’s roads, needing more than 7,000 charging points – hence the new scheme.

But, at a meeting of the cabinet on Tuesday (November 3), members went against the recommendation of the council’s environment panel and voted unanimously not to join.

The feeling was that no one was clear what impact such a contract would have, with the potential disadvantages outweighing the benefits.

Simon Ballard, environmental protection manager, said the council needed to understand things ‘significantly better’ but could climb on board later.

He added: ” This is really about the timing. We don’t understand what the impact of the contract will be on us.

“We don’t understand what land will go in – and the contract terms are ill-defined at this moment so we don’t know what the impact will be on us.”

Jonathan Brown (Lib Dem, Southbourne) did not understand why the council would not want to be part of the scheme from the ground up, rather than jumping on later.

He said: “We may only have a small part to play by joining every other district and borough in joining this scheme but we should play it.

“What kind of message does it send for us to sit on our laurels?

“Currently there are no plans by the parking service team to introduce additional charging points across the district. There is a risk of creating a black hole across the heart of the county scheme.”

Earlier this week, West Sussex County Council announced Liberty Charge as the supplier for the network, with a seven year contract starting on February 1 2021.

The contract includes an option to extend it for another three years.