A NEW report shows that Maldon district is in the bottom 20 per cent in the country for electric vehicle charging points.

The district is also in the bottom four out of 12 areas in the county for electric vehicle ownership. Electric vehicles include plug-in cars, vans and quadracycles.

The report, revealed at an online meeting of Essex Climate Action Commission on Tuesday (8 September), also showed that throughout most of the district around 66 to 73 per cent of residents travel to work – either as a driver or passenger – by car.

In the area around the town and in many areas of the Dengie Peninsula, this figure rises to 76 to 91 per cent.

The meeting heard and debated ambitious targets for future provision of electric charging points: it is calculated that 65,000 points will be needed across Essex to cope with future demand. In 2035, all new cars will be electric under current government plans.

In Maldon town centre, there are currently two charging points available for public use – one at Maldon District Council offices and one in the car park at Lidl supermarket close to the Blackwater Retail Park.

It costs around £1,000 to get an electric car charging point installed at an average home.

Market Hill, Maldon, is subject to an action plan by Maldon District Council to improve air quality. The move to electric vehicles is core to national plans to tackle air pollution and climate change.

People in the UK are 64 times more likely to die as a result of air pollution than those living in Sweden and twice as likely as people in the US. Poor air quality causes between 40,000 to 50,000 early deaths in the UK every year. The cost of these health impacts is estimated at £20billion each year.

The Essex Climate Action Commission is a group of academics, politicians and business leaders from across the county who aim to identify ways in which the council can mitigate the effects of climate change, improve air quality, reduce waste and increase the amount of green infrastructure and biodiversity in the county.