Controversial EV charger plans prompt parking fears

Plans to install new electric vehicle (EV) charging points across Oxfordshire have been met with concerns over their impact on parking.

Bampton, Burford, Eynsham and Shrivenham are among the places included in Oxfordshire County Council's plans for new charging points.

With the sale of new petrol and diesel cars due to end in 2030, the council said it wanted "to make it easier for people to switch to an electric vehicle".

But residents in Bampton said that needed to be weighed against the pressure it would put on parking.

Parish councillor Andy Cutler said finding a space in the centre of the village was already difficult.

"It's always busy, you'll see people come in [to the Market Square car park] and then give up and drive down the road because there isn't anywhere to park," he said.

"I hope people would still continue to drive around and find carparking but they will more than likely go somewhere else."

Electric car owner Jarrod Reabow, from Bampton, said he backed the move towards greener transport, but the specifics of the council's plan were "ridiculous".

"EV chargers are great, but it needs to be in a place that's sensible," he said.

"I really think distributed charging makes the most sense, other places convert lampposts to standard EV chargers.

"They're not fast but it doesn't matter because if you distribute these chargers around, there's bound to be one or two near enough that you'd use it."

The county council said it was recommending three EV bays in Bampton, two standard 7kW chargers and one 50kW rapid charger.

It also said it was trying to balance the need to provide public facilities for people who not could not charge at home, with ensuring residents can park and access essential amenities.

The council said about 30% of Oxfordshire residents do not have a driveway or private off-street parking where they could charge an EV.

The wider programme has received £4m in government funding and aims to install more than 1,500 public chargers across the county by summer 2028.

A decision on each of the proposed on-street locations will be made at a council meeting on Thursday.