Kildare estate must wait for EV charging points

The issue of EV vehicle charging in a Kildare estate must wait until county-wide legislation is introduced next year before being resolved - if not resolved by the management company first - Celbridge Leixlip Municipal District has ruled.

Cllr David Trost (FF) called on the council to write to Ardstone property developers and request that in consultation with the management company, they resolve the issue of electric vehicle (EV) chargers for the residents in Ardrath View, Celbridge, in advance of the estate being taken in-charge.

Speaking at a Celbridge Leixlip Municipal District meeting held on Friday, October 24, Cllr Trost said it was his belief that it was important this issue is pursued, as the residents were promised availability of EV charging points in their estate, and at the moment it was presenting a problem for them.

Cllr Trost said it can be very problematic for residents if they do not have an EV point on their driveway, in the context of people being encouraged to purchase electric vehicles from an environmental point of view.

From what he could gather, he said, more and more people appeared to be buying electric vehicles, which seemed to be a reversal of the trend, and he encouraged councillors to see this as “a serious issue.”

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Ardrath estate was “a fantastic estate”, Cllr Trost told members, adding there were “very little issues” with regards to taking it in charge, save for the issue of EV charging points.

This one issue was really concerning residents at the moment, he said, and he suspected the issue would be replicated in other areas also.

Cllr Nuala Killeen (SD) told Cllr Trost that the problem of EV charging points was common with new Strategic Housing Developments (SHDs).

The scheme would have come before the council “before a brick was laid”, she said, and county-wide the policy on EV charging points has not been adopted yet, and was outstanding for quite some time.

Cllr Killeen pointed out that this was perhaps not an issue unique to Ardrath, but was instead an MD-wide issue concerning a number of similar properties.

She would be “worried”, therefore, she said, about implementing something for one estate and not addressing the needs of other estates with the same issue.

She knew an EV charging policy was before a transport committee last year, but was not aware of its current status.

A council official explained that the problem with EV charging for these estates arose from the fact that the residential units do not have individual parking spaces, which made cabling for the EV charging points an issue.

What developers had typically done in the past, he continued, was install communal EV charging points for residents of the estate, but the problem with this is that the cost of the service is charged at a different rate.

A report issued by the council stated: “Development Control has been advised that the developer is currently engaged in discussions with the Board of Management (BOM) of the Owners

Management Company (OMC).

“The OMC is actively considering a strategy for the provision of individual

EV charging facilities for residents within this element, which is a critical component in

determining the appropriate delivery mechanism for EV infrastructure.”

Following debate, it was agreed to wait until the overall EV charging policy is updated for early next year.