Electric charging points planned for Barnsley town centre car parks

The £275,385 cost of the charging points will be covered in full by a grant from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

If the plans are approved by Barnsley Council’s cabinet at their next meeting on October 21, Market Gate and John Street car parks in Barnsley town centre will be fitted with three chargers each, at a cost of £163,307.

The remaining £112,077 will be used to fit electrict vehicle chargers “at the council’s discretion, including in locations that support residentswithout access to off-street parking.”

A report to cabinet states that Barnsley “lags behind the rest of the UK in terms of the number of charge points per 100,000”, adding that 19 percent of households in the Barnsley area – 21,227 households – do not have access tooff-street parking and will be “unable to install EV chargers at their homes”.

CouncillorTim Cheetham, cabinet spokesperson for regeneration and culture, said: “One of our key ambitions as a council is a sustainable Barnsley and I’m delighted that we’re able to offer electric vehicle charging at car parks across our borough.

“These are available both to those visiting our local centres and those residents who want to use them to charge overnight.

“This extra investment will help expand EV charging infrastructure across South Yorkshire and encourage more people to make the switch to electric vehicles when it’s time to change their car.

“More and more people are already making the switch to electric vehicles and this is going to help us improve our air quality and reduce our carbon emissions.”