Wokingham Borough Council is seeking the views of local residents, businesses and visitors to understand which locations within the borough would benefit most from electric vehicle charging points.
The UK took a historic step on the road to ending its contribution to climate change last year, as the Prime Minister, Transport Secretary and Business Secretary announced the end of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK by 2030.
With this in mind, the council has launched a survey on its website asking for feedback to help plan where to locate new charging locations for electric vehicles to help meet demand. The results will also assist the council in demonstrating this demand when seeking funding from the on-street residential chargepoint scheme, overseen by the office for zero emission vehicles.
Since declaring a climate emergency nearly two year ago, the council has shown its commitment to reaching carbon neutrality by 2030 through eight key steps:
- Reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transport
- Reduce carbon dioxide emissions from domestic and business property
- Generate more renewable energy in the borough
- Create a local plan that specifies net zero construction and infrastructure
- Increase the levels of carbon sequestration the borough through greening the environment
- Engage with young people and support sustainable schools
- Reduce waste sent to landfill
- Encourage behaviour change
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions from transport remains top of the list and encouraging the use of electric vehicles throughout the borough is just one of many steps it is taking to help facilitate this.
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport said, “We’re dedicated to making active travel more accessible to our residents, businesses and visitors across the borough, but we realise that this may not be appropriate for every journey you need to take.
“We want to help to make sustainable transport like electric vehicles a valid consideration within the borough and we want to understand how we can help to achieve this. I would like to encourage you to share your thoughts through this short survey to help us understand where charging points would be most appropriate”.
To take part in the survey please visit the council website and search consultations. Here you will also find current consultations where you can share your thoughts on the walking and cycling infrastructure around the borough.
