Town centres in Northumberland are set to benefit from new rapid EV (electric vehicle) chargers. 
 

Northumberland County Council has been awarded £453,000 from the Government’s Levelling Up fund for the provision of ten new rapid EV chargers to be installed at Ashwood Business Park, Ashington, Chapel Street Car Park, Berwick, Greenwell Road, Alnwick, Newmarket Car Park, Morpeth, Otterburn village, Queen Street Car Park, Amble and Wentworth Car Park, Hexham.  
 

The funding was welcomed by the Council’s Cabinet, which gave its full support for the growing EV infrastructure in the county.   
 

Rapid charge points are the fastest way to charge an electric and these will be added to the Council’s existing network of 243 EV chargers by March 2025.
 

Glen Sanderson, Council Leader, and Cabinet Member for Climate Change said: “I’m pleased with the Council’s decision to welcome this additional funding which will help develop the EV infrastructure in the county.
 

“Since the UK has announced that it will be banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, we must ensure our county has the necessary provision in place to support this.” 
 

The expansion of EV chargers is a key component of the Council’s Climate Change Action Plan to help reduce transport related carbon emissions and contribute to Northumberland’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030. 
 

Councillor Sanderson continued: “We need to ensure EV charging is fully accessible and remove barriers as much as possible. The Council will support our residents and visitors – wherever possible – in the transition to EV, which will improve our air quality and help reduce carbon emissions for the benefit of everyone.” 
 

Monitoring of the project will be carried out by Transport North East and a working group has been set up to ensure the various elements of the bid are delivered.