Northumberland County Council has passed a motion to add 36 electric vehicle charging points to its existing public network, distributed across 26 locations in the county in northeast England.
Most of the new equipment — 78 per cent of the total — will be installed on land owned by the council. The remaining charge points will be sited on third-party land held under licensing agreements.
The build-out is being paid for with just over £1 million of external funding from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, which is intended to support the rollout until 2029. Revenue generated by the chargers is earmarked for their running costs, management and maintenance rather than for the capital programme.
Installation and upkeep will be carried out by the council's in-house EV team.
Cllr Richard Wearmouth, the cabinet member with responsibility for transport, described the additional investment in charging provision as welcome. He said the county has one of the largest road networks in the country and that adequate facilities are vital to help people get around.
The county borders Scotland and takes in Hadrian's Wall and Northumberland National Park. The charging decision follows other sustainable transport investment in the area, with 14 BYD BD11 battery-electric buses having entered service a few months earlier.