Shropshire Star

Powerful plea for electric cars

Councillors want more information before deciding to back plans for electric charging points in their main car park.

Published

Oswestry town and Shropshire Councillor Paul Milner has urged the town council to look a schemes for putting points in the Central car park.

He said they would help to make the town more attractive to visitors.

"I have had people come to me saying they've had visitors to the town ask them if there's anywhere to charge their cars," he said.

"Last year I knew only one or two people who had electric cars but now I know a dozen or so who have them so this is a chance for the council to be forward thinking."

A report to Wednesday's meeting looked at a number of options for putting the points in the Central car park, close to the main public toilets.

Councillors said they would need more details before deciding to go ahead with a scheme.

Councillor Milner "You get get mobile apps now which show you where you can charge your car and there are hardly any in this area.

"In turn I think it would bring visitors to the town. People could leave their cars charging while they walk around town and do some shopping or charge up over night and stay in a local B&B.

"The number of cars on the road that are electric or hybrid are increasing and I think it will continue to increase in the future. Ideally we would have one in central car park because there is space but first we need to look into the feasibility of it and the cost."

Currently Shropshire's only charging station on a public car park is in Church Stretton, which recently had its thousandth powering-up.

There are others on private car parks in other parts of the county.