Planning is under way for five new electric vehicle charging stations to be installed across the Surf Coast Shire.
Surf Coast Shire Council has been successful in securing funding as part of the state government’s Destination Charging Across Victoria (DCAV) Program to install a 50 kilowatt vehicle charging station in Lorne, and 22 kilowatt charging stations in Anglesea, Aireys Inlet and Winchelsea.
The council has also provided a small funding grant to install a seven kilowatt charging station in Moriac.
The DCAV charging stations will be highly visible, located on high traffic volume roads and tourist routes and in close proximity to important community and commercial infrastructure.
The sites will be planned around existing access to electricity infrastructure and will use the council’s 100 per cent renewable electricity supply.
Cr Gary Allen said the new charging stations were a key part of the council’s Climate Emergency Response Plan.
“There has been a lot of community interest in this project, which is a positive sign that local people are keen to transition to electric vehicles,” he said.
“We have seen a surge in the demand for electric vehicle charging stations recently, including the Lorne Visitor Information Centre reporting the existing slower charger has cars queuing to use it at times mid-week.
“The new charger stations will play an important part in helping our community reduce transport related greenhouse gas emissions and support the transition to electric vehicles, powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity.”
Councillors heard at last month’s council meeting that the shire was making strong progress towards completing the 67 actions identified in the Climate Emergency Response Plan for 2021-2023.
The electric vehicle charging stations were one of the actions being progressed, as was the installation of solar panels on council-owned buildings, with Winchelsea Community House next in line.
The shire has also started the process of becoming a certified carbon neutral organisation using the Australian Government’s Climate Active certification.
“I’m proud of the work happening locally to address the climate emergency and within the next few months council will become a carbon-neutral organisation, which is a big step forward,” Cr Kate Gazzard said.
“There’s of course a lot more work to be done, but we’re making good progress.”
