Three quarters of district's electric vehicle charging points "have never been used"

Councillor claims 22 out of 28 have 'zero usage'

THREE-quarters of the electric vehicle charging points in West Berkshire have never been used, a district councillor has claimed.

The council has installed a total of 28 points in various locations across the district.

The trial project, which has been funded through a £72,590 government grant and £25,000 from the council, has seen on-street points placed in the East Fields and West Fields areas of Newbury and Hungerford High Street.

However, at a meeting last Thursday, shadow portfolio holder for the environment, Adrian Abbs, said that 22 out of the 28 had “zero usage” so far.

Mr Abbs asked if the council could provide data on how often they had been used.

When told by the council’s executive member for the environment, Steve Ardagh-Walter, that he didn’t have information on the “more recently established on-street charging points”, he said: “Could you please explain why Newbury Town Council has been able to review the data which shows zero use on 22 out of the 28 points?”

Mr Ardagh-Walter replied: “I can’t comment on what data Newbury Town Council have seen and maybe you could share that information.

“I would be very interested to see it and I am sure that at some level in the council that has been looked at.

“I do not personally monitor car- charging usage data on a minute level.”

Mr Ardagh-Walter said usage would likely increase as more people moved towards electric vehicles.

He added: “In a matter of a few months it is not realistic to have a lot of useful information.”

Following the meeting, Mr Abbs said: “The reason I brought it up in the first place was I work in West Mills Yard and I have never seen anybody use the one there.

“You can’t ever get to it because there is always some other vehicle parked in the space.”

Government figures released last year showed that the number of electric vehicles in West Berkshire fell by almost half in the space of two years.

There were 1,009 registered in the district at the end of 2018, according to the Department for Transport, down from 1,978 at the end of 2016.

In every other local authority in Berkshire, the number of electric vehicles has been increasing each quarter.

But the district council’s portfolio holder for transport Richard Somner has described the statistics as “simply unbelievable” and is challenging the numbers with the Department for Transport.

Mr Somner (Con, Tilehurst South and Holybrook) said: “It is very worrying to see that the official statistics suggest that electric vehicle ownership has declined so dramatically in West Berkshire in two years.

“These figures conflict with information from alternative sources. It is simply unbelievable.

“I have therefore tasked officers to find out why.

“Contact has already been made with the Department for Transport, who at this time cannot explain it either, so the investigation is now progressing to the source, DVLA, to find out why.”