£1.7m bid to ensure all Blackpool residents could switch to electric cars

If successful the money would go towards installing sockets across residential areas of Blackpool to ensure everyone lives within five minutes of a shared power source.

The council’s executive is being asked to approve the bid, which must be submitted by the end of November, when it meets on Monday, November 6.

The council’s Electric Vehicle Strategy adopted in February 2023 set a target of providing 210 additional sockets across the town by 2028.

If approved, the bid will be submitted to the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure fund aimed at delivering low-powered sockets for residential areas, targeting households without access to off-street parking.

The council would work with a private chargepoint operator to provide EV charging points around the town.

A report to the executive says: “The proposed delivery model is to use residential charging sites (RCS).

“These would provide low-power charging on existing car parks, including those associated with sites providing specific services.

“Rolled out initially on council carparks and parking associated with council properties, arrangements would be made for 24 hour charging to beaccessible with additional provision for adequate lighting and security measures such as CCTV.

“Where the charging site is located on a car park which charges for parking,arrangements will be put in place to ensure that the total cost to residents using the facilities is limited to the cost of the charging and not the parking.

“Discussions have taken place with Electricity North West regarding the model, which they have indicated provides lower demands on the electrical infrastructure than some alternatives and is therefore less likely to incur significant supply upgrades.”

The report adds work has been done to find sites which “could deliver against an objective of all households without off-street parking beingwithin five minutes’ walk time of a Residential Charging Sites.”

Parking at other community sites such as health facilities, schools, churches and private car parks could also be used to provide EV charges on a leasing basis, where council car parks are not available.