This Week I Ask – Are RDC Officers Plugged In?

No, not literally, but 'plugged in' to opportunities for funding from central government. It's all very well us bleating on (and being told) about air pollution and our environment if we are not going to take steps to try and reduce the amount of pollution that we create. One of the main cause of air pollution in our district is cause through vehicle movements. Having looked into this before I was well aware of the fact that there are ZERO public electric vehicle charging points in our district - not exactly pushing the boundaries then eh? When I later discover that indeed the Government is giving money away (albeit the taxpayers) to install these EV points, I just had to ask RDC if they had applied for this funding! So I've written to one of the RDC officers in our Environmental Health dept to ask the question....

From:jamesn@onlinefocus.org Sent: 29 March 2018 11:16 To: Martin Howlett Cc: Louisa Moss; Shaun Scrutton Subject: EV Charging Points   Dear Martin, Could you please advise if Rochford has applied for funding for EV charging points for the Rochford District? https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-for-thousands-of-electric-car-charge-points-unused-by-councils Regards James   Cllr James Newport Sweyne Park & Grange Ward www.jamesnewport.co.uk

  I've had a brief response back pointing to the 'press release' for the A127 'plan' for reducing vehicle pollution... however this is not related to this specific question about whether RDC has applied for this funding. I'm told by the officer to expect a response from him when he returns from annual leave. I'll be updating this post when I hear back hopefully this week. Update: I’ve had a response back from the MD on this question and he replies.....

So, we have a significant pot of money from government for charging points near the air quality problem areas – around Rayleigh in our case…that is great news. We have now started looking at the options for the Rochford capital pot, but part of that work involves ensuring that we take advantage of any funding/grant opportunities at the same time. I was aware of the slow progress with the on-street initiative, though I did have in mind there is a specific reason for these grants – inner city streets with apartments and flats where charging options are limited. That said, we’ll be considering the possibilities of bringing in additional funding and this grant pot needs to be looked at as part of the project......