Monmouthshire County Council, is delighted to announce that it and the other four Gwent local authorities, have been awarded £459,000 from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) to install electric vehicle charge points in car parks in residential areas.

The funding which will be split across the five local authorities (Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen) will be used to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure across 33 local authority car parks in Gwent – installing up to 73 fast charge points.

Following a feasibility study supported by Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales, the five Gwent local authorities (Caerphilly County Borough Council, Torfaen County Borough Council, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Newport City Council and Monmouthshire County Council) were able to make a successful application for funding. Assistance was also received from the Energy Saving Trust during the development of their bid.

A survey has been conducted to support the funding bid in each of the authorities. The council would like to thank those residents who took time to participate in the survey. Their input will contribute to the future of provision for the county.

Councillor Jane Pratt, Cabinet Member for Whole Authority de-carbonisation said:

“We are delighted that the funding bid has been successful. As an authority we are taking all the steps we can to be carbon free by 2030, following our declaration of a Climate Emergency in 2019.

The funding will empower the authority to install electric charging points thereby encouraging residents to be able to take advantage of electric vehicles. We look forward to installing the points across the county.”