In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 10 to consider Motions on notice from Members. Motions must be received in writing or by email to the Monitoring Officer by 12 noon twelve clear working days before the meeting.
The following Motion had been received:-
Motion ‘A’ – Proposed by Councillor Frank Adlington-Stringer
Council notes:-
· North East Derbyshire’s electric vehicle (EV) charging network is the worse in the entire country, covering a mere 1.3% of “on-street” households;
· The Council are currently failing to meet its government set target of 517 EV charging points by 2030, with just 17 currently in situ;
· Despite a Government target of 35%, just 15% of residents are able to adopt a ‘green commute’;
· Given the rural nature of the District, the inadequate provision of bus routes between villages and failure to invest seriously in active travel infrastructure, EV’s play an even more crucial role in decarbonising our area.
Council resolves:-
(1) To swiftly investigate the feasibility of installing EV charging points at all 17 of its car parks across Clay Cross, Dronfield, Eckington and Killamarsh.
(2) To write to the East Midlands Mayor requesting support for North East Derbyshire through their plans to ‘rollout more charging points for electric vehicle’.
(3) To write to Derbyshire County Council, recent recipients of a shared £17.6m Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) grant, requesting urgent support in North East Derbyshire.
Minutes:
Motion ‘A’ – Proposed by Councillor Frank Adlington-Stringer
Council notes:-
North East Derbyshire’s electric vehicle (EV) charging network is the worse
in the entire country, covering a mere 1.3% of “on-street” households;
The Council are currently failing to meet its government set target of 517 EV charging points by 2030, with just 17 currently in situ;
Despite a Government target of 35%, just 15% of residents are able to adopt
a ‘green commute’;
Given the rural nature of the District, the inadequate provision of bus routes
between villages and failure to invest seriously in active travel infrastructure,
EV’s play an even more crucial role in decarbonising our area.
Council resolves:-
(1) To swiftly investigate the feasibility of installing EV charging points at all 17 of its car parks across Clay Cross, Dronfield, Eckington and Killamarsh.
(2) To write to the East Midlands Mayor requesting support for North East
Derbyshire through their plans to ‘rollout more charging points for electric
vehicle’.
(3) To write to Derbyshire County Council, recent recipients of a shared £17.6m Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) grant, requesting urgent support in North East Derbyshire.
Councillor F Adlington-Stringer moved the Motion.
Councillor F Adlington-Stringer then moved an amendment to the Motion, so (1) would read ‘To expedite and expand the investigation of the feasibility of installing EV charging points at all 17 of its car parks across Clay Cross, Eckington, Dronfield and Killamarsh and other appropriate assets.
Councillor A Cooper seconded the proposed amendment.
The amendment put to the vote and passed. The amended Motion became the Substantive Motion.
Councillor N Barker welcomed the opportunity to debate the subject and was fully behind the intention. He highlighted that the green agenda needed to be expanded but that this Motion should have been raised in a different way. The Council was already in the process of agreeing a policy with other authorities for a County Council approach. Feasibility studies had recently been conducted, the County Council were the lead agency and discussions in relation to funding had been carried out. Councillor N Barker moved an amendment that the Motion be deferred to the appropriate Scrutiny Committee.
Councillor A Dale highlighted that the Conservative Group broadly supported the Motion. The broader point was that charging points within car parks were not well utilised, and investment for on-street charging points should be the way forward. He disagreed with the note in point four which related to bus routes, as it was not necessarily true, there was some investment, but more was needed.
Councillor C Renwick informed Members that of the £17.6m local electric vehicle infrastructure grant fund, £6.6m had been awarded to Derbyshire County Council and the funding stipulated that electric vehicle charging points should be carried out in residential areas, where there was little or no off-street parking. Councillor C Renwick then provided details of three schemes that were currently being progressed regarding vehicle charging.
Councillor S Cornwell discussed that she supported the amendment but was disappointed the original Motion had not included all areas within the District. She shared that in her Ward there were appropriate areas in Holmewood which could benefit.
Councillor K Gillott seconded the amendment and highlighted that the issue needed to be discussed at the appropriate Scrutiny Committee.
Councillor R Shipman responded that Councillors should be encouraged to bring debates to Council, as it created a healthy approach to debate and transparency. On the wider point of the Motion, more charging points were needed, and it did appear that this was being addressed but debating it could speed up the process. He went on to discuss that off street parking needed to be more environmentally friendly as these points would boost more electrical vehicles on the road.
Councillor F Adlington-Stringer stated that he rejected the amendment, as the Council was failing on its green targets.
The amendment was put to the vote and passed. The amended Motion became the Substantive Motion.
The Substantive Motion was put to the vote and passed.
RESOLVED – that the Motion be submitted to the relevant Scrutiny Committee for consideration.