More electric car charging points for Mid Sussex car parks

The district council plans to apply for government funding to help pay for electric vehicle charging points (EVCPs) in car parks it owns across the area.

Companies will be invited to bid for the contract to install two charging points at each site in East Grinstead, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint, Lindfield and Cuckfield.

At a meeting of the cabinet on Monday, members were told the scheme would cost more than £187,000 to complete.

The plan is for the bulk of that – more than £121,000 – to be covered by the government’s Onstreet Charging Point Fund.

A report to the cabinet said the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and the Energy Saving Trust had ‘indicated we would have a strong chance of a successful application’.

It was agreed ‘in principle’ that the estimated £27,807 cost of installing the charging points in Queens Crescent and Cyprus Road, Burgess Hill, would be covered using funds from the Burgess Hill Place and Connectivity Programme.

And more than £38,000 of Section 106 money has been lined up to cover the rest of the costs, providing the Onstreet application is successful.

When asked what would happen if the application was not successful, Peter Stuart, head of corporate resources, said: “We remain committed to introducing more electric vehicle charging points in Mid Sussex and believe strongly that our application for funding from the Government’s Onstreet Charging Points Fund will be successful.

“However, should our application be rejected we would look to revise our proposals and investigate further income streams.”

Members were told that, while Mid Sussex has more charging points than anywhere else in the county, a survey had revealed that the demand for more was high.

Gary Marsh (Con, Ardingly & Balcombe) said: “We placed charging points in our three main car parks across the district previously, but I’ve been bombarded with emails asking why can’t we go further.

“Well this is precisely what this council’s doing.

“What is particularly pleasing is it’s going outside the towns, it’s going into the villages, which is excellent news.”

Jonathan Ash-Edwards (Con, Haywards Heath – Heath) added: “You only have to look at the news in recent months to understand the growing public awareness around carbon emissions, climate change.

“Of course, the key thing holding back the development of electric vehicles is charging points, so it’s really important we play our role as a council and make sure they are available in public places.”

A report to the cabinet listed 23 sites which had been considered for charging points, including two at Rawson Hall, Bolney, two at Clair Hall, Haywards Heath, and two at Wivelsfield railway station.

That was whittled down to 13 car park sites, which are owned and enforced by the council.

The sites:

Burgess Hill: Cyprus Road and Queens Crescent

Cuckfield: Broad Street

East Grinstead: Chequer Mead, Queensway, Vicarage Road and Norton House

Hassocks: Dale Avenue

Haywards Heath: Hazelgrove and Franklynn Road

Hurstpierpoint: Trinity Road and Brown Twins

Lindfield: Denmans Lane