Northumberland County Council has passed a motion to add 36 public electric vehicle charging points at 26 locations, extending the charger network it already operates. The county, a coastal region in northeast England that borders Scotland, is known for Hadrian's Wall and Northumberland National Park.
Of the new charge points, 78 per cent will be installed on land owned by the council. The remaining chargers will be sited on land held by third parties under a licensing agreement. The 36 units will be spread across the 26 sites.
The charging infrastructure is being financed with just over £1 million in external funding from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement. Revenue generated by the chargers will be used to cover their running costs, management and maintenance, and the funding is to support the rollout until 2029.
The council's in-house EV team will install and maintain the equipment.
Cllr Richard Wearmouth, the cabinet member with responsibility for transport, said it was good to see more investment in charging provision in Northumberland. He noted that the county has one of the largest road networks in the country and said it was vital to have the necessary facilities to help people get around.
The charge point expansion follows the entry into service of 14 BYD BD11 battery-electric buses in the region a few months earlier.