Although provision for electric charging points was made in the original refurbishment plans for the Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall (APMH) Car Park in 2018, your independent Councillors are disappointed that there is still no firm date as to when these will be installed — despite the emphasis voiced by the current LibDem Administration on the climate emergency. Independent Village Ward Councillor David Hawksworth said today (13 January):
“We understand that the feasibility study for charging points across the district have now been completed but we now want to see firm dates fixed for work at the Peace Memorial Hall car park – the busiest MVDC park in the Village. If the local authority is committed to a net zero position across its own properties by 2030, this needs action rather than words.
“That said, we were pleased to see that the Authority did again enhance our Christmas shopping experience in Ashtead when over the three Saturday’s preceding Christmas we had free parking all day – continuing the Independents’ original introduction of this facility for Christmas 2018. For continuing this, seasonal response, from MVDC, many residents and traders in the village were grateful,” said Cllr. Hawksworth. Their concern to get more information regarding the installation schedule comes on top of the ongoing disappointment that there are now no plans to increase the number of free 30-minute parking bays – as originally envisaged in the refurbishment plans. This is especially pertinent as the Independents believe that an increase in the hourly parking charge is currently being debated.