A roll-out of electric vehicle charging points across Conservative-led Wealden district will soon be underway as the local authorityl also endorsed progress made at the recent COP26 conference.
The momentum of the EV charging initiative was revealed at Wealden District Council’s Full Council meeting on Wednesday when the authority backed a motion endorsing the government’s Net Zero Strategy, announced in October.
The motion – brought by the council’s Conservative portfolio holder for climate change, Councillor Roy Galley – also called on the council to welcome the progress made at the conference in Glasgow on methane emissions, deforestation and reducing the use of coal.
Conservative members of the authority all backed the motion after Councillor Galley highlighted some of the initiatives which have already been introduced by Wealden council, which has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050 or sooner. However, astonishingly, Green Party members did not support the motion.
Speaking at the council meeting, Councillor Galley said, “In Wealden we are taking a very pro-active line and we have our climate change action plan.
“There’s already large supplies of renewable energy in Wealden. We have adapted our main properties with energy efficiency and solar panels. We are progressing the roll out of solar panels to private homes and businesses and we have a detailed plan for our housing stock.
“In addition, we are about to roll out electric vehicle charging points and we are presently undertaking a significant procurement exercise for the provision of EV charging in our own public car parks. We are working with our waste contractor on new vehicles for the fleet which also looks at hydro-treated vegetable oil as a novel solution.
“There’s a lot more to be done but it’s a start and it’s important to highlight to people and emphasize that we have a positive pro-active government policy and a positive pro-active Wealden policy.”
Further details on the roll out of EV charging points will be available in the coming weeks.
