Over £141,000 extra spent on EV car spaces at Rother Valley Country Park
The increase is being blamed on changes of government rules
Rotherham council has forked out £141,000 more than planned on EV charging spaces at Rother Valley Country Park.
The increase is being blamed on the government’s electric vehicle (EV) charging requirements which came into force in England in June, 2022.
The legislation stated that all new non-residential buildings, or those undergoing a major renovation, with more than 10 parking spaces, must have a minimum of one charge-point and cable routes for one in five (20%) of the total number of spaces.
The Rother Valley Country Park, Waterfront Cafe, and event space was fully opened in April, 2026, following a £5.5 million improvement project.
A recent finance update report presented to council cabinet members said that there were originally enough EV spaces planned.
But, following a design review and refocusing of attention on the visitors’ centre and overflow car park, the number of EV charging bays was reduced elsewhere in the park.
That means the council failed to include enough spaces to meet requirements.
This extra work done is estimated to total to £141,973.
These additional costs will be funded by the council’s unspent budget money from other Local Regeneration Fund plans.
The council’s service director of culture, sport and tourism Polly Hamilton said: “We’re committed to places being thriving, safe and clean for visitors. As part of the Rother Valley Country Park Waterfront Café and Events Space project, we developed the overflow car park with Electric Vehicle (EV) charging provision to enable more options for environmentally friendly ways to travel to the park.
“However, a new legislative change by the Government resulted in the council having to increase the amount of EV parking points on offer, to 10% of all car parking spaces to be EV charging spaces. As there were insufficient spaces to meet the new legislation requirements, these changes meant that the council must provide 14 EV charging points, with the infrastructure for a further 14 also being made available for future use.
“This increase in the volume and associated infrastructure of EV charging points necessitated a new larger power supply station, with associated works to increase the overall power capacity. The additional costs were obtained through the local regeneration pathfinder external funding, which enabled the required EV points to be installed successfully.”