Issue - meetings

To scrutinise the introduction of public electric vehicle charging points as The Council Plan 2023-28 – A Green Gwynedd.

Resolved:

1.     To accept the report, noting the observations made during the discussion.

2.     To recommend to the Environment Department that there must be a minimum of two charging points at every site.

3.     That the Committee receives an update, including the Business Plan and information regarding the provision in Gwynedd's rural areas in a year's time.

The report was presented by the Cabinet Member for the Environment, the Assistant Head of Environment (Transportation) and the Traffic and Projects Service Manager. 

It was reported that this field became clearer and gained a higher profile, with more electric vehicles on the road, reflecting the target for 2030 to reduce and then prevent generating petrol and diesel vehicles. It was noted that the department led on providing public charging points which was a priority project under the Green Gwynedd objective in the Council Plan 2023-28, as there was a feeling in some areas of Gwynedd that the private sector did not satisfy the need as in other areas. It was explained that the intention was to fill the gaps where there was no provision from other sectors.

Attention was drawn to the dynamic nature of the field, with developments happening often and quickly. It was explained that it was unclear where the technology would go next, but the ambition would be to have provision availability which would mean that the time it took to charge electric vehicles would be the same as the time it took to fill up a diesel or petrol car.

It was noted that work had already been done to install the charging points and there was reference in the report towards a 'Zapmap' website, which showed many new charging points across the country. It was noted that this would influence the Council's role when moving forward, as it would become increasingly difficult to coordinate and have an overview of the locations.

It was explained that the machines were now being installed in workplaces, shops, other developments and car parks that are owned by the Council near the Byw'n Iach centres. It was confirmed that work was underway to introduce more rapid charging points. It was explained that the focus over time would move from geographical availability towards how many points would be available, assuming that the demand would increase regularly.

It was noted that the Gwynedd Electric Vehicles Infrastructure Strategy was currently being developed, bearing in mind that it was not only the public charging points that required attention, but also the opportunity for people to be able to charge at home. It was explained that work was underway to look into how to enable people to charge on the street, although this could be complicated due to health and safety considerations and the Highways Act principles.

During the discussion, the following observations were made:

Thanks were expressed for the report, noting that there had been good progress towards creating an electric vehicle charging network and that the new and proposed sites had been welcomed, especially the rapid charging points. Concern was expressed that there was too much dependency on slow 7kW charging machines. It was elaborated that they were suitable for overnight charging but not for rapid charging in locations such as car parks.

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