Why do many of Brighton's lamp-post chargers not yet have marked bays?

Access to many Brighton's lamp-post chargers is not always assured, as they may be located in areas with shared parking. This means other vehicles may be parked there, and users will have to find the next available charge point. What gives?

Parking can be a contentious issue in the city. Arguably there are too many private cars, which can lead to parking congestion - especially in areas where houses have multiple occupants or high-rise buildings but no off-street parking. Many disgruntled drivers make their thoughts known whenever a parking space for them is removed. This has been the case in the past, with the installation of on-street bins, marked bays or double yellow lines and some drivers were even flustered over safety changes such as those made for the global pandemic. Because the transition to electric vehicles is still taking off, the council is trying to balance the rollout of dedicated bays alongside existing parking requirements.

As such, the council initially assessed and ensured 18 lamp-post chargers have marked bays that are subject to parking enforcement should any non-electric vehicles park in them.

However, the council is continuing the process of adding dedicated bays. More bays are arriving throughout 2021 with a plan to reach 50% by Spring 2022. Locations and demand are reviewed and reassessed every 3 months. If an area can be proven to show that the charging infrastructure is in demand, but not necessarily accessible then it may be suited to having a marked bay added. So, if you're an EV driver and are regularly unable to access your nearest lamp-post charger, we suggest contacting the council's EV team to let them know about it. To highlight your experiences, it would be helpful to make a note of how often you experience difficulties with access and use this to back up your case. You can drop them an email to electric.vehicles@brighton-hove.gov.uk.