Electric vehicle charging points have been installed in a Norfolk village as part of a rural rollout that aims to help remove barriers to EV usage in the county.
Chargers have been installed at The Centre in Dickleburgh, near Diss, as part of Norfolk County Council's (NCC) electric vehicle strategy, which looks to cut carbon emissions by encouraging people to swap petrol and diesel cars for electric ones.
It comes after campaigners warned the county risks being left behind in the switch to electric motoring, and called for the rollout of EV chargers to be accelerated.
NCC has pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 - and unveiled its EV strategy last September to help reach that goal.
By 2030 - when sales of new diesel and petrol cars will be banned - it is expected there will be 168,279 electric vehicles (26.8pc of the total), rising from 1,931 in 2019 (0.3pc), and 25,924 (4.9pc) in 2025.
Earlier this year, a new electric car service station - only the second of its kind in the country - opened on the outskirts of Norwich.
But there have been concerns that the rural nature of the county will see areas left behind.
However, NCC hopes the new 7.2kW chargers at Dickleburgh will be the first of many at village halls across Norfolk.
Martin Wilby, cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, said: “I hope this will be a blueprint for other similar schemes right across the county as we are looking to support the rollout of publicly accessible electric charging points to meet both current and future demand.
"Alongside our plans to improve bus services and boost active travel, such as cycling and walking, this is one of the key ways that we can help reduce carbon emissions in Norfolk.”
This is the first scheme funded by NCC, through money allocated by the local county councillor as part of their Local Member Highway Fund.
Barry Duffin, county councillor for West Depwade, said: “It’s great to see this innovative scheme spark so much interest.
"I’m proud that Dickleburgh is ahead of the game and it’s been wonderful to work closely with the parish council and highway officers to get this up and running.”
Terry Clarkson, chairman of the village centre management committee, said: "We have been campaigning to add electric car chargers to the Village Centre for a few years now.
"We recognised there was a real need to create these points in order to encourage electric car use and to further push the green agenda in Norfolk."
An official switch-on will be held at The Centre on Wednesday. The new facility will be able to charge three cars at one time.
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