Electric vehicle charging points approved for South Staffordshire Council base
Electric vehicles will be able to recharge at South Staffordshire Council’s offices after a carport with solar panels was given the green light.
A community hub extension is being created at the Codsall council base, which includes a new library area, café and more prominent entrance from Wolverhampton Road.
Last month South Staffordshire Council granted permission for a proposed retail unit at the hub to become a children’s day nursery instead.
And at this month’s planning committee another application was approved as part of the revamp, to allow a 40m long carport to be installed in the parking area next to the Wolverhampton Road entrance. The carport will be installed over existing parking spaces and feature 40Kw solar panels on top.
A report to the committee said: “The community hub currently has no provision for the charging of electric vehicles. The proposal to therefore offer this provision and promote the use of sustainable transport for its employees should be encouraged.
“The proposal will provide four EV (electric vehicle) car charging points. A small shipping container will be placed next to the west of the car port to house the energy storage system.”
Planning committee members unanimously approved the application at their meeting on Tuesday.
But Councillor Mike Lawrence, who chaired the meeting, said: “My only comment is have we been ambitious enough with four charging points? Perhaps we could have had double that – and some in the new car parking area would have been good.”
