Rotherham Council’s Cabinet is set to approve involvement in a scheme which could see up to 1,500 new charging points for electric vehicles across the borough when they meet on Monday 15 December.
Rotherham residents will benefit from around £1.6m of government investment for public electric vehicle charging points in their communities, ensuring a minimum of 500 new chargers are installed.
In March 2024, the Council adopted a Public EV Infrastructure Strategy that set a target of ensuring the majority of Rotherham homes should be within 800 metres of a public charging point, and the funding will help to facilitate this by 2040.
Over the last ten years the Council has installed more than 100 parking bays with public charging, as well as adopting Planning policies requiring EV charging provision in new residential and commercial developments. However, projections show that public EV charging provision is likely to need to increase to at least 1,200 charging points in the next fifteen years.
The scheme, funded through the Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund programme, will be managed by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and be facilitated by the Council.
Rotherham Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy, Cllr John Williams, said: “In June this year, 25% of all new car registrations in the UK were electric vehicles, and over the coming years that proportion will only grow. As a result, we will need to step up our efforts to ensure that our public charging infrastructure keeps up with the level of demand.
“Of course, many people who choose to buy an EV now will be able to charge it at home or at work. But this government grant, managed by the Mayor of South Yorkshire’s office, gives us the funding we need to meet our objective of ensuring that a majority of Rotherham households are within walking distance of public charging points, helping to address concerns about households for whom off-street charging is not possible.”
Subject to all four councils in South Yorkshire approving the scheme, SYMCA will begin rolling out the scheme in late December 2025 or early January 2026.
For further information about electric vehicle charging points available in Rotherham, go online to www.rotherham.gov.uk/energy-climate-change/electric-vehicle-charging-points
