Hovingham Parish Council

Hovingham is a rural village within the district of Ryedale in England. It is located eight miles from the nearest towns, Malton and Hemsley, and 18 miles from York. The community is made up of approximately 180 properties and 460 residents.

At the time of applying for a grant from the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) in February 2020, there were eight plug-in hybrid or fully electric vehicles (EVs) in the village.

In November 2018, Hovingham’s Community Action Group carried out a survey led by Project Purple, a community project aimed at supporting Hovingham in becoming carbon neutral by the 2030s. One focus of the survey was transport and residents were asked if they would consider buying an EV if they were in a position to do so. Results from the survey showed that 87% of residents in Hovingham currently own a petrol or diesel car, with 70% considering switching to an EV.

However, residents highlighted a lack of charging infrastructure as a major barrier to the uptake of EVs in the area. Currently, 55 of Hovingham’s 170 properties do not have off-street parking to install home chargepoints. The data was shared with Hovingham Parish Council (HPC), who put forward a proposal to install a chargepoint in the village hall car park.

HPC was successful in its application for £4,770 in ORCS funding in February 2020, with assistance from Energy Saving Trust. In March 2020, HPC successfully installed two 7kW, 32amp fast chargepoints. The chargepoints have been popular with local residents and visitors, and a number of other parish councils have been in contact with HPC to learn more about the council’s experience of installing EV chargepoints.

HPC saw a 300% increase in kWh usage in April and May 2021 over the previous six months. The council hopes that the chargepoints will encourage residents without access to off-street charging to switch to electric vehicles. It also hopes to encourage visitors to support the rural economy by using local businesses while their EV is charging.

By March 2021, the number of plug-in hybrid or fully electric vehicles in the village had increased to 10 vehicles.