North Yorkshire Council
Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee
14 September 2023
Receipt of Petition ‘EV Charge Point installation in Knaresborough’
Report of the Assistant Chief Executive - Legal and Democratic Services
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1.0 |
Purpose of the Report
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1.1 |
To advise of a petition containing more than 500 signatures. |
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1.2 |
To ask the Area Constituency Committee to consider a response.
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2.0 The Petition
2.1 A petition has been received by North Yorkshire Council. This is a paper-based petition with over 500 signatures, all of which are of people who live, work or study in the county.
2.2 The petition provided the following context:
“We, the undersigned, being the businesses, residents and visitors to Knaresborough, regret the timing, location and lack of engagement undertaken in the installation of ten EV charging points in our Town Centre short stay car park. We therefore call upon North Yorkshire Council to enter into urgent dialogue to discuss a phased transition to full electric vehicle provision and safeguard our town centre businesses by maximising the availability of parking for all vehicle users until a greater need arises”
3.0 The Council’s Arrangements for Receiving and Responding to Petitions
3.1 The key features of the Council’s arrangements for receiving and debating petitions, as published on the Council’s website, are as follows:
· Receipt of the petition is published on the Council’s website (which has been done in the case of this petition).
· If a petition contains 500 or more signatures (but less than 30,130 signatories), it will be scheduled for debate at the next meeting of the appropriate Area Constituency Committee.
· The petition organiser is offered the opportunity to speak for five minutes at the Area Constituency Committee meeting to present his/her petition. Subsequently, at the meeting, the petition will be discussed by Councillors for a maximum of 15 minutes and a decision will be made on how to respond to the petition.
· Possible responses by the Council to petitions, as shown on the website, are:
(a) to take the action requested by the petition.
(b) not to take the action requested for reasons put forward in the debate.
(c) to commission further investigation into the matter, for example by a relevant committee; or
(d) where the issue is one on which the council executive are required to make the final decision, the council will decide whether to make recommendations to inform that decision.
· The petition organiser will receive written confirmation of this decision. This confirmation will also be published on the website.
3.2 In accordance with the arrangements described above, the petition organisers have been invited to join today’s meeting to present their petition.
4.0 Officers Comments Regarding the Petition
4.1 The Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) strategy (2019) is a ten-point plan which sat within the Harrogate Borough Council carbon reduction strategy and alongside the Air Quality Management Plan. This strategy was consulted on in 2018 and the response supported the creation of a public charging network as the top priority. The Strategy has economic growth at its core.
4.2 With the introduction of the Unitary Authority it should be noted that the principles and actions within the ULEV Strategy still apply but have been consolidated and included in the wider North Yorkshire EV Public Charging Infrastructure Strategy 2022-2030 (2023)[1] which is being used as a guide for network planning across the county, expected to lead to the mass rollout of EVCPs.
4.3 Improving electric vehicle (EV) charging provision across North Yorkshire is part of our wider climate plan to reduce emissions and improve air quality. This strategy for rollout of EV Infrastructure will play a key role in achieving local, regional and national ambitions associated with decarbonisation (for North Yorkshire to be Carbon Zero by 2034 and Carbon Negative by 2040). We have many residents and visitors contacting us to tell us they want to make the switch to EV or visit North Yorkshire but there is a reluctance due to the lack of infrastructure currently in place. We need provide this infrastructure to give people the confidence they can get around without running out of charge and be a part of this positive change.
4.4 The EV charging bays in Knaresborough were funded by Harrogate Borough Council and an Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) grant known as the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), which is designed to increase the availability of on-street chargepoints in residential streets where off-street parking is not available, thereby ensuring that on-street parking is not a barrier to realising the benefits of owning an EV.
5.0 Site Selection
5.1 Chapel Street Car Park in Knaresborough was chosen for a number of reasons, one of which was because the data from the CPO, at the time, indicated that the location would be highly utilised; mainly attributed to the high proportion of residents without access to off-street parking (almost 75% of the households in Knaresborough town centre rely on on-street parking) and the high number of residents living in rented accommodation, meaning they are unlikely to get permission, at this time, to install a home charger. It should be noted that forecast demand is only one of a number of factors that contribute to the site selection for EVCP units, others include:
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· Availability of power and data connection on the desired side of the road · Cost to connect to the grid · Propensity to support other charging (i.e. visitor or business charging) during the day coupled with; · Assessment of the Maximum length of stay in the car park to inform potential dwell times |
· Contribution to decarbonisation and air quality management targets locally, regionally and nationally
5.2 We have reviewed the forecasting projections and it was estimated that by year one three cars per day would use the EV spaces to charge (currently an average of five vehicles per day are using the bays to charge). This is expected to have a sharp increase in following years as local residents consider EV as their next vehicle purchase. By year five it is forecast that 22 cars per day would use the EVCP’s, suggesting chargers will be plugged in to vehicles the majority of the time. Finally, by year eight (the final year of the contract) around 30 cars per day will use the EVCPs, suggesting chargepoints will be heavily utilised with vehicles plugged in majority of time. 4 hours is the maximum stay in the car park during the day and would see an average increase of 120 miles to the vehicle range.
5.3 Officers are monitoring and evaluating usage of the bays, including the ones at Chapel Street, which are currently performing better than the expected level of utilisation for this stage in their lifespan, issuing on average five vehicles per day with a charge, having only gone live in February 2023. A total of 911 sessions have been carried out between March and August (inclusive). It is anticipated usage will continue to increase as many more people switch their vehicles to electric as national infrastructure needs are met, the restrictions on the production of new vehicles eases and people become confident in their ability to find a convenient, available EVCP. It is a difficult balance between encouraging EV uptake by providing the infrastructure and managing existing demand for ICE vehicles. The Harrogate Borough as a whole is already ahead of North Yorkshire with the number of EV’s registered and this is only expected to continue to grow.
5.4 The 22 bays in Knaresborough (12 of which are waiting to be activated by Northern Powergrid), which are for EV charging only, account for less than three per cent of the more than 800 spaces available in the town.
5.5 In regard to Conyngham Hall, another car park within the central Knaresborough area with 12 EVCP bays, NYC are experiencing issues with Northern Powergrid establishing a connection to the EVCP’s; so even though the chargers are installed they have no power, and they are bagged to indicate this. We have removed the cones to enable these bays to be used by all vehicles and will have some signs installed making it clear all vehicles can park there until the EVCPs are installed and in working order. The issue with Northern Powergrid has been escalated.
6.0 Funding
6.1 The OZEV ORCS grant came with conditions that include:
1) Bays are to be used for EV charging only and enforced with a TRO as soon as possible after installation
2) Bays are to be free for residential use between the hours of 6pm to 8am to encourage residential uptake of electric vehicles in areas with little or no off-street parking. Bays can be (and are) charged for outside of these hours.
3) Bays must be available and maintained for at least 7 years after installation
6.2 So giving up the bays to ICE vehicles would breach the grant conditions with OZEV, this could result in clawback of the grant funding issued to the former HBC (£238,000) and adversely impact future funding applications.
7.0 Current Status
7.1 There is currently no TRO for EV Charging in Chapel Street, therefore no consultation has been held. Currently there is an internal review relating to Off Street Car Parking Orders across North Yorkshire to enable us to align definitions for EV charging. Once this review concludes there will be proposals to amend the Orders at which point there will be a consultation process.
7.2 There is free overnight parking at Chapel Street from 6pm-8am with the aim of supporting and encouraging residential charging during these hours. At present:
1. Any vehicle can park in the EV bays at Chapel Street and will not receive a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) as long as the user has paid the fee to park in the car park; in Chapel Street you must pay to park between 8am and 6pm
2. An EV parked in the bays does not have to be charging and will not receive a PCN as long as the user has paid the fee to park in the car park; in Chapel Street you must pay to park between 8am and 6pm
3. Any vehicle using the EV bays at Chapel Street during the hours of 6pm and 8am can park for free but must pay to charge.
7.3 Once a TRO is implemented:
1. A petrol or diesel vehicle parked in the EV only bays will be issued a PCN
2. Any EV parked in an EV Only bay is required to be charging
3. Subject to review, it is anticipated that will need to pay the fee to park in the space and the fee to charge their vehicle.
7.4 The income generated for car parks in central Knaresborough for June and July 2023 is greater than that of the same period in 2022, and there has been no increase in Tariff, which suggests that the inclusion of the EVCPs has not had a negative impact on footfall through the car parks.
8.0 Parking in Knaresborough – Next Steps
8.1 In order to address the parking challenges in Knaresborough:
1. Parking signage is being considered alongside of the Off Street Car Parking Orders review. NYC is considering the following to improve signage and wayfinding in the area.
2. We will install some temporary signs at Chapel Street advising that the bays are free to park in during the hours of 6pm and 8am.
3. We will improve the website to better signpost the Strategy concepts and where users can charge.
4. We are reviewing charging prices across the region with a view to standardising rates, which is underway.
5. We seek to improve digital access and information – The council is currently seeking to join the National Parking Platform (NPP) which will mean that customers can find all NYC car parks on an app.
6. The council has applied for grant funding to expand the number of ‘bay sensors’ into Knaresborough and Scarborough so that real time parking availability can be seen by customers reducing circulation times looking for parking spaces, this will include EV bays both On and Off-Street
7. Review, repair and replace existing signage within the town
8. Engage with the community on EVCP’s, their use and officially launch the EV car club
9.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
9.1 No immediate financial implications unless the response agrees with a phased approach, in which case, Breaching the grant conditions with OZEV could result in us needing to repay the grant (£238,000) and adversely impact future funding applications, including the current £4.88m bid for further LEVI Capital Funding.
10.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
10.1 A legal review of the contract with the Officer for Zero Emission Vehicles and, separately, the contract with the charging point supplier has taken place and the response is based on information that was derived from this.
11.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
11.1 A screening assessment was undertaken, and an EIA was considered not proportionate
12.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS
12.1 The transport sector is responsible for 28% of carbon emissions in North Yorkshire and also contributes to poor air quality. Both the ULEV Strategy (2019) and the EV Public Charging Infrastructure Strategy 2022-2030 (2023) are key documents in the Council’s plan to improve EV charging provision with a view to reducing the carbon emissions and improving air quality in North Yorkshire. This will contribute to us achieving local, regional and national targets associated with decarbonisation (for North Yorkshire to be Carbon Zero by 2034 and Carbon Negative by 2040) which need to be addressed at pace and scale.
12.2 There are no immediate climate implications as a result of this response
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13.0 |
Recommendations
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13.1 |
That the Committee notes the petition and considers a response.
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Barry Khan
Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic Services)
County Hall
Northallerton
Report Author –Keisha Moore, Senior Transport Planning Officer
Presenter of Report – Keisha Moore, Senior Transport Planning Officer
Background Document: North Yorkshire Council’s petitions information and advice, a copy of which is on the Council’s website Petitions | North Yorkshire Council