Council takes strides in becoming cleaner, greener Caerphilly

CAERPHILLY County Borough Council is continuing to make strides in delivering on its commitment to help tackle the climate crisis and lower carbon emissions.

Public electric vehicle charge points were recently installed in 11 Council-owned car parks in the county borough, as part of a Gwent-wide project which saw sixty-two new dual electric vehicle 22kw fast charging units installed at thirty-four sites across Gwent.

The project was delivered in partnership with the five Gwent local authorities. A grant of £465,000 was provided for the project from the UK Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), with match funding provided by each local authority.

Caerphilly Council has also taken delivery of brand new electric vehicles as part of the authority’s transition to ultra-low emission vehicles.

The Catering Team is the first service to take delivery of electric vehicles, the vans are fully equipped with electric ovens to deliver meals to the elderly and vulnerable as part of the Meals Direct Service, a further 6 vans for the Building Cleaning Service are set to arrive later this month.

The move to electric vehicles was made possible following the Cabinet’s decision to support the installation of EV charging points at Tir y Berth, Tredomen House and Penallta House allowing up to 100 vehicles to be charged.

In addition, plans are also underway to install the infrastructure needed in the county borough to support the roll-out of electric taxis.  This includes
purchasing 44 wheelchairs accessible 100% electric taxi vehicles to operate a ‘try before you buy’ scheme over the next 3 years.  This scheme will cover the whole region; with Caerphilly Council taking delivery of 5 taxis.

Cllr. Sean Morgan, the Council’s Deputy Leader, said

“Back in 2019 we became the second of all Gwent local authorities to declare a climate emergency and commit to becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

It is fantastic to see the delivery of our first electric vehicles, this is a very significant step for us following the installation of the charging points, we are leading by example and are committed to continuing to make the Caerphilly borough a cleaner, greener place for everyone.”