Electric vehicle owners living in England’s conservation areas will not benefit from new permitted development rights allowing charging cables to cross pavements without planning permission, following a late change to the legislation.
The new rules come into force on 21 October and will allow residents without off-street parking to install domestic EV chargepoints and use pavement-embedded cable channels to connect them to vehicles parked on the road.
However, a statutory instrument made on 25 September specifically excludes conservation areas from the new rights. Cross-pavement charging solutions will therefore require planning permission in these areas, unless another route is available.
The change affects around 10,000 conservation areas across England. The Times reports that these areas are home to around 6.8 million people, with an estimated 3.4 million without driveways.
The government had consulted on the changes as a way of removing barriers to affordable home charging for people without off-street parking. Its consultation response said the reforms were intended to reduce costs and support the deployment of EV charging infrastructure.
The legislation also requires any cross-pavement solution outside excluded areas to be installed by, on behalf of, or with the authorisation of the relevant highway authority.
The late exclusion of conservation areas means a significant proportion of households that were due to gain access to the new simplified charging arrangements will instead continue to face the planning process when seeking to run a cable from their home to a vehicle parked on the road.
The government has said the wider reforms are intended to make EV charging more accessible, while the new legislation provides specific protections for conservation areas, listed buildings and scheduled monuments.
“We want to support households without off-street parking to access domestic electric vehicle charging, but it’s vital that we continue to protect the special character of our conservation areas,” a government spokesman said
“People in conservation areas without off-street parking can still apply for planning permission to install a cross-pavement solution. Local authorities also have powers to grant blanket permission for these installations in an entire area if they choose to.”
(Picture: Kerbi Charge)
