Consultation on North Northamptonshire draft Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy

Closed 11 Oct 2023

Opened 23 Aug 2023

Contact

ev@northnorthants.gov.uk

Feedback updated 26 Apr 2024

We asked

Central government expects all local authorities to develop electric vehicle infrastructure strategies and NNC’s draft strategy was developed with input from the council’s Sustainable Communities Executive Advisory Panel and the town and parish council forums. The purpose of this consultation exercise was to hear the opinions of residents and other stakeholders to fine tune the 10 policies that were set out in the draft strategy.

You said

113 responses were received as part of the consultation exercise. 112 of these were received via the online form and a single response was sent to the NNEVI team via e-mail. 75% of the respondents were local residents but responses were also received from town/parish councillors and charge point operators. The overarching themes of the responses were focussed upon the requirement for an increase in the number of publicly available chargepoints, concerns regarding the capital cost of electric vehicles and the requirement to locate publicly available chargepoints strategically to bring the most benefit to the population without negatively impacting upon parking. Some suggestions received were beyond the scope of the strategy, however, all responses were carefully considered.

We did

The responses to the consultation were thoroughly reviewed and the strategy has been redrafted following the exercise. We are anticipating that this strategy will be published shortly.

Overview

Road traffic currently accounts for a considerable proportion of North Northamptonshire’s overall greenhouse gas emissions impacting on air quality, health, and the environment.   

By 2030 there are projected to be 116,000 battery electric vehicles (EVs) registered in North Northamptonshire, so it is vital that there is adequate electric vehicle infrastructure to support this transition and the journey towards net-zero.

North Northamptonshire Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy (NNEVIS), seeks to put in place policies and actions to tackle some of the current barriers slowing down the transition.  

North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) is acutely aware of the need for charging points and the necessity to make it easier for those without driveways to transition to, and benefit from, EVs.  Charging should be just as convenient and stress-free for those who do not have off-street parking.  

Government expects all local authorities to develop local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategies. It indicates that these strategies should set out how charging needs will be met in the area at scale and over time, where possible ahead of need.  It states that strategies will also need to consider where and to what extent provision is likely to be met by the market, without additional intervention.

We will be using financial support received from Government via the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund to help deliver the strategy. The strategy supports NNC’s goal of being carbon neutral by 2030.  However, it also recognises that a successful transition towards EVs and net zero living requires co-ordinated and concerted action by all the key stakeholders in the area, including but not limited to North Northamptonshire Council, The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), Distribution Network Operators, Large Employers in the region, Chargepoint Operators, Town and Parish Councils, Supermarkets, Car Park Operators and Petrol Station Operators.

Have your say

North Northamptonshire Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy draft

The ideas that underpin this strategy have been shared with the Sustainable Communities Executive Advisory Panel and the Town and Parish council forums to enable views to be expressed prior to public consultation on the draft strategy. You can view a recording of the Sustainable Communities Executive Advisory Panel using the following link:

Sustainable Communities EAP - YouTube

NNC is seeking your views on the draft strategy, and all comments and feedback will be reviewed and duly considered before the final strategy is presented for approval later in 2023.

If you have any queries, comments or would like a copy of this questionnaire in another format (including paper) you can contact us by email or post. Our contact details are as follows: 

Email address: ev@northnorthants.gov.uk

Postal address: 

NNEVI Project
Place & Economy
North Northamptonshire Council
Sheerness House
41 Meadow Road
Kettering, NN16 8TL

This consultation will run from 23 August to midnight on 11 October 2023 

For information about how consultation and engagement responses are managed, please see the consultation and engagement privacy notice. 

If you would like to make any suggestions for locations for EV chargepoints you can do so via:

Register your interest in on-street electric vehicle charging NNC - Online form (achieveservice.com)

Interests

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  • Transport