Electric Vehicle Charging in Walmer
The Climate Emergency Working Group is in constant communication with Dover District and Kent County Council to facilitate further electric vehicle charging points in car parks and on-street within Walmer, where current facilities are non-existent. Councillors have also been in discussion with English Heritage to install charging points at both Walmer and Deal castles.
EV points have become a common sight in towns throughout Kent, most towns and larger villages have begun to see these pop up thanks to help from local, district and county council funds. With Kent County Council’s EV campaign to have 600 chargers throughout Kent then rising to 10,000 by 2035, Walmer Town Council’s Climate Emergency Working Group applied to the council’s funding to acquire several EV chargers.
Installed at the entrance to the Drill Field in Late 2021, the four EV charge points have been in near-constant use for the last two years. The increasing number of hybrid or electric cars within the town, meaning that the amount of energy used by the points has continued to climb. While primarily for use by local residents, it is highly likely that they have been used by visitors to the area, including those attending the rugby matches on the Drill Field.
Made up of four charge points, those installed in Walmer consist of two lower 7km chargers and two faster 22kw chargers, making them the fastest chargers in the local area. An influx of new residents originally from areas such as London and other major towns in the Southeast have made these crucial for the charging of electric cars for a populace used to plugging in anywhere, they may need to, further electric points are available in Deal town centre as well as at a nearby car park a few hundred yards from those at the drill field.
Electric Buses
Walmer Town Council is committed to doing all it can to persuade local authorities that electric buses are needed in Walmer. Philip Lightowler, Head of Public Transport at Kent County Council attended a Climate Emergency meeting to discuss current and future plans for electric buses in the area. Mr Lightowler stressed the importance of partnership working and the strength of all local councils coming together with Stagecoach to increase the likelihood of such a scheme coming to fruition.
Walmer Town Council has written to Dover District Council and Stagecoach requesting that as diesel buses are taken out of service due to age, they are replaced with electric buses. It was also requested that section 106 monies (generated from local housing developments) are considered to assist in the funding of new electric buses and related infrastructure.