Council dispose of land in Limerick town for use as electric vehicle charging point

COUNCILLORS in a Limerick municipal district have agreed to dispose of a portion of land from its own ownership to that of the ESB for use as an electric vehicle charging point.

At the November meeting of the municipal district of Newcastle West, councillors agreed to dispose of the portion of land for a nominal fee of €1.

The 6m² of land that has been disposed of is located in a parking area at Market Place in Newcastle West.

Cllr Jerome Scanlan welcomed the plan to implement further electric vehicle charging points in Limerick.

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The Climate Action Plan 2021 set target reductions for the transport sector, to be achieved by 2030. The plan seeks a 42% - 50% reduction (relative to 2018 levels) in emissions across the sector by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.

In order to achieve these reductions, the Climate Action Plan 2021 identifies a series of targets for the transport sector which includes increasing the fleet of electric vehicles and low-emitting vehicles on the road to 945,000.

Increasing the number of electric vehicles on Irish roads is one of the Government’s key interventions in the move to reduce fossil fuel energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

As such, the roll-out of charging infrastructure is critical in facilitating the increase in the use of electric vehicles.

Subsequently, Limerick City and County Council (LCCC) are currently developing an electric vehicle strategy for the city and county, which will outline the implementation policies and mechanisms that will be required to meet the requisite targets.

The Department of Transport through its Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) office is providing funding for a pilot project to accelerate the provision of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

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Fine Gael Cllr Liam Galvin welcomed the installation of the charging points but called for public representatives to be informed of and to have a say on the plans for the installation of future electric vehicle charging points as they “take up parking spaces”.

Mr Galvin said that some locations for electric vehicle charging points are more suitable than others.

ESB Networks shall discharge LCCC’s legal fees up to €750 plus VAT and reasonable outlays. ESB Networks are bringing a supply to a location that LCCC has requested for a set fee, irrespective of how difficult or the real cost of bringing the infrastructure to this location.