Electric cars. Back in 2006, there was a theory going round that Big Oil had lobbied them all into the scrap heap (remember this documentary?) Now they’re increasingly ubiquitous. The UK Government is considering giving them special road privileges. Whether you’ve got one or not; whether you’re for or against green licence plates; one thing looks (and already is) pretty inevitable: not enough charge points to go around.

For the last couple of years, you may have heard a lot of talk about clean air, resulting from central government’s big to tackle emissions resulting in poor air quality across the UK. Local authorities were tasked with improving air quality, and one element of that for many councils has been improving electric car infrastructure – particularly in the capital. Here’s how London boroughs have used Citizen Space to give residents a say on how this infrastructure will be delivered.

Richmond-on-Thames

Screenshot of London borough Richmond-on-Thames' consultation on electric vehicle charge infrastructure
London borough Richmond-on-Thames’ consultation on electric vehicle charge infrastructure

Richmond-on-Thames launched a consultation on charge points following a number of resident requests for them to be implemented in a certain area. They used the consultation overview page to show post codes of potential installation sites, which respondents could click on to see an image. They’ll consider the responses of residents and whittle down the prospective sites to a shortlist, which will then be consulted on again in order to move forward with putting the plans into action.

London Borough of Brent

Screenshot of London Borough of Brent's Citizen Space site, showing different electric vehicle charge point consultations
London Borough of Brent’s Citizen Space site, showing different electric vehicle charge point consultations

Brent released a series of consultations on charge points earlier this year, rather than a single centralised one, to gauge resident opinion on where to install electric vehicle charging points. These consultations were part of the start of a second phase of installing charge points across the borough, with 26 points currently being delivered. Given the increasing numbers of residents registering electric vehicles, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that Brent may see the need to run a phase three – and beyond.

Hammersmith and Fulham

Screenshot of London borough Hammersmith & Fulham's consultation on improving air quality
Hammersmith & Fulham’s consultation on improving air quality

Hammersmith and Fulham are very responsive to resident feedback. They incorporated questions on electric vehicles into a wider consultation on improving air quality in Hammersmith Grove in 2017. In it, they made clear that they would only implement changes that had support from a majority of respondents. Following the consultation, they introduced more electric vehicle charging points alongside other measures that were supported by residents. They also consulted on trialling a zero-emission zone – i.e., only electric cars would be allowed through it – but based on feedback (88% of respondents opposed) they didn’t go ahead with the proposal.

Citizen Space is the platform of choice to run broad-scope statutory consultations for over 100 organisations worldwide. If you’d like to find out about what it can do for yours, book a free demo and we’ll walk you through it.