Work is set to commence on the first installations of new electric vehicle charging points across Bridgend County Borough.
The installations, which have been funded through the Welsh Government’s Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) Transformation fund and the Cardiff Capital Region will see charging points installed at the following locations:
- Brackla Street surface, Bridgend town centre
- Pencoed Railway Station Park & Ride Car Park
- Tremains Road Car Park, Bridgend town centre
- Neath Road, Heol Ty Gwyn, Maesteg
- Hillsboro Place Car Park, Porthcawl
- Eastern Promenade, Porthcawl
- The Rhiw Multi-Storey Car Park, Bridgend
- Maesteg Multi-Storey Car Park, Llynfi Road, Maesteg
- The Esplanade, Porthcawl Seafront, Porthcawl
- Tondu Road Car Park, Lewis Avenue, Bridgend town centre
- Sarn Station Park and Ride, Heol Persondy, Sarn
This rollout is part of a regional project supporting users of electric cars and vans in Wales to access vehicle charging points in public car parks.
The first installations in the county borough are expected to be operational by September 2022.
These additional charging points will play a key part in decarbonising transport and support the shift towards cleaner vehicles. To enable drivers to make the switch from older, more polluting vehicles to electric, they need to be confident that plugging in will be convenient and hassle free.
With the demand for charging points expected to increase significantly in coming years, we are pleased to start the installations across the county borough. Ensuring everyone has easy access to these charging points will help support our decarbonisation plans.
We are also finalising plans for installations in other car parks in the county borough, including Garw and Ogmore Life Centres and Ynysawdre, Pencoed and Pyle swimming pools.
Councillor John Spanswick, Cabinet Member for Communities
In addition, the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal has been awarded significant funding for on-street charging and electric taxi fleet and working together with councils on carpark chargers. The county borough has also been allocated six electric taxis which will be made available on a ‘try before you buy’ basis for current taxi fleet operators.
A further £300,000 of funding is available to the local authority through a Welsh Local Government ULEV grant. The funding supports the local authority’s commitment to provide a phased plan for the electrification of all council fleets and depots by 2030, as part of its Net Zero Carbon commitments.
The funding can be used to upgrade power systems and the digital support needed as well as the chargers.
It is also likely that further funding will be made available to continue to support the public sector and communities to transition ultra-low emission vehicles.
