Minutes:
The Climate Commissioner referred to the report that had been circulated in advance to the Committee and said that the purpose of the report was to update Members on the current status of the Belfast City Council Electric Vehicle (EV) programme of activity and to make recommendations on next steps. She said that decisions were required in relation to the use of Belfast City Council car parks and land for the purposes of supporting EV infrastructure (EVI) in the city, and the development of an EV strategy for Belfast.
The Climate commissioner reminded Members that the ban on fossil fuel vehicle manufacture from 2030 onwards in the UK had created an increasing demand for easily accessible EV charging infrastructure in most UK cities. She continued that a network of electric vehicle infrastructure was an essential part of a shift towards zero emissions transport and achieving Belfast’s aims of an 80% reduction on emissions levels by 2030. However, she advised that Belfast was currently in the bottom 20% of UK local authorities for EV charge points per person. A stretch goal of installing at least 38 EV charging devices per year in Belfast (year over a baseline of 55 EV charging devices in 2022) had been included in the draft Belfast Agenda and draft Economic Strategy. This approach was consistent with the aims of the Department for Infrastructure, with the launch of the EV Infrastructure Task-Force in December 2021.
The capital costs of EV infrastructure were high so, to accelerate the transition, the UK government had set aside £400m through the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund for Local Government to avail of capital and revenue costs to install EV charging in residential areas that lacked off-street parking. This funding was competitive and heavily promoted to Local Authorities, which were required to work with private sector charge point Operators (CPO) to deliver the service.
The Climate Commissioner went on to outline the various funding opportunities that were available to Belfast.
The Committee noted that officers had been approached by a number of third parties in relation to existing EVI infrastructure and potential upgrades, and supported Legal Service’s suggestion that a call for expressions of interest was undertaken to test the market regarding the potential use of Council owned land to support EVI. It also noted that ESB had secured funding through the Levelling Up fund to upgrade existing EVI, and supported officers from Climate, Physical Programmes and Legal Services proceeding to negotiate terms with ESB for the continued use of the existing sites to enable continuity of service.
The Climate Commissioner outlined that an opportunity existed to bring forward three to four leisure centre sites for inclusion on an EVI reserve list within the INTERREG funded FASTER project funded by SEUPB, and supported officers progressing same. She referred Members to the recommendations in the report and asked that they support the recommendation that up to £30k be allocated from existing budget to support the development of a Belfast EV strategy.
Members agreed that given the growing size of need, the Council should be going beyond looking at installing charge points on its own land to include land owned by others, for example supermarkets and schools. While Council is a significant landowner this land is not located in residential areas where the EVI is needed.
A Member raised the need to future proof EVI so it is accessible to all and asked officers to picked this up in the EVI strategy.
A Member requested that Belfast City Council should write to the Department for Infrastructure Minister in relation to access to on street charging where off-street charging isn’t an option; and to write to the Department for Communities Minister to ask for guidance for those on the mobility scheme and how they might access charging points without creating barriers on the footpaths.
The Committee agreed to this course of action.
After discussion, the Committee noted the contents of the report and agreed to the recommendations as outlined.