Highland Council admits blunder over electric vehicle charge point plan for Gairloch in Wester Ross
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EMBARRASSED council chiefs have apologised after they started work installing electric vehicle charge points in a Ross car park before securing planning permission – and compounded the error by “falsely” claiming to have consulted the community.
Highland Council has promised to “undo” the work in “the coming days” after Gairloch Community Council flagged up the faux pas at its latest meeting – and said it was not the first such incident.
Frustrated community figures had raised their concerns after it emerged that a power box for the new charge points had been erected on the footpath next to Gairloch’s Pier Road car park.
Despite being in favour of the charge points – which will be located inside the car park and away from the path – the community council had warned that it would have objected to the location of the power box on the footway as it reduced the space for passing pedestrians.
And they also took umbrage at supporting documents included in the application in which Highland Council had claimed that the community and ward councillors had been “very proactive in assisting with site selection throughout the feasibility process, providing valuable insights into local matters”.
The community stressed that no such consultation had taken place.
Apologising, a Highland council spokesman said: “As soon as concerns by the community council were raised, a member of staff involved in the project contacted the secretary of the community council to apologise for the genuine oversight.
“The officer who carried out the initial engagement is no longer in post, so we cannot confirm exactly who was spoken to at the time this took place.
“However, following discussions with the planner, the council have submitted an improved layout proposal within the planning application.
“The application is to install two dual-connecting units which provide charging for two cars simultaneously, so four bays in total. The works which had commenced are being ‘undone’ within the coming days. Any spoilt bay markings will be repainted following the outcome of the planning application.”
However, Gairloch Community Council has called on the local authority to improve its wider consultation efforts – claiming it is not the first such oversight.
Secretary Fran Cree said: “Our concerns were about the complete disregard in community opinion and the terrible waste of public funds in starting work on a project in the wrong place which now needs to be made good.
“This is not the first project in the area which has started before proper community consultation has taken place but we do hope it is the last!”
She added that the community council had “no objections” to the charge point project as it is “described in the planning application” and that the wider village was also generally supportive of EV points.
