Scarborough councillor hits back at MP's comments on electric-car charging

One of Scarborough Council’s Labour councillors has hit back following comments from the borough’s Conservative MP that the authority was not doing enough to support drivers of electric cars.
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In comments made to The Scarborough News, MP Robert Goodwill said it was time for Scarborough Council to “put its green money where its green mouth is” when it comes to adding to the number of electric charging points in the borough.

Now, Scarborough Council cabinet member and North Yorkshire County councillor Tony Randerson has accused the MP of being “disingenuous” with his comments aimed at the borough authority.

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In a post on Facebook in response to Mr Goodwill’s remarks, Cllr Randerson said: “It may well hurt him that the borough of Scarborough is not coloured blue but this administration is coping extremely well.

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“It would have been fitting for our MP rather than just criticise to have ventured forth what assistance he could afford in Westminster regarding our ‘Green’ aspirations.”

Cllr Randerson went on to say that the county council had bid for funding to create 100 new electric vehicle fast-charging points across North Yorkshire rejected by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) last year.

Mr Goodwill was speaking after local college Scarborough TEC secured government funding for electric car and green skills training.

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The Scarborough and Whitby MP said the number of charging points in the borough was “dismal”, especially for an area that relies on tourism.

Cllr Randerson added: “Despite this unsuccessful bid there is still an ambition to drive this project forward to meet North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) and York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s (LEP) strategic priorities for carbon reduction, therefore the LEP and NYCC have agreed to part-fund the development of a ‘bid ready’ electric charging scheme for potential funding opportunities post-April 2021.

“NYCC has commissioned WSP to assess electric vehicle charging infrastructure requirements across the county, and then identify any barriers to these being delivered which may, in turn, slow a transition to electric vehicles. This study is taking place at the moment.”