WARRINGTON’S M&S store at the Gemini Retail Park is seeking planning consent for 10 electric vehicle charging bays and associated substation enclosure on an existing car park.
The works to the car park include the installation of 10 electric vehicle charging bays, six with their own dedicated charging unit and two pairs sharing a charger, a substation enclosure and associated electrical equipment.
Although it is recognised that permitted development rights exist for electric vehicle chargers, these do not extend to the electrical infrastructure, such as the substation, which accompany them.
In their planning statement M & S say the central imperative of the development, at this site and others nationwide, is part of the inevitable and essential move away from hydrocarbons into a world where net zero carbon transport is the norm.
Evidently, the development is of a modest scale and in any event matters such as design and layout are largely dictated by practical and technological imperatives. However, it is confirmed that all of the elements of the development will be consistent with the established use of the car park, not least as the positioning of the development in a discrete area on an edge of the car park, adjacent to amenity vegetation.
The proposal is of a sufficient distance from the nearest residential properties for noise matters not to be of relevance, particularly given that the development will not result in a material rise in noise over the existing situation.
The development is proposed in an existing car park, and no changes are proposed to the public highway or access onto it.
The application is under consideration by Warrington Borough Council planners under delegated powers.
