New operational services centre not built for electric fleet

A new hub to house Torridge District Council’s waste and recycling fleet hasn’t been designed with electric vehicles in mind, councillors have been told.

The centre at East-the-Water won’t be able to cope with a wholly electric fleet, which is the aspiration of many local authorities aiming to reach net zero by 2030.

Green councillor Wendy Lo-Vel (Northam) said not future-proofing the facility is “short-sighted.”

“This is a new resource. We are spending loads of money on this new depot, and it is much needed, but to cut corners and not build future needs into it is short-sighted.”

The council’s head of communities and place, Sean Kearney, told the internal overview and scrutiny committee that there would be some electric vehicle charge points but added: “We have not designed in the capacity on the site to cope with a completely electric fleet.”

Electric vehicles such as dust carts can’t meet the council’s operational requirements at the moment, so they aren’t needed, he said.

“This is one of the reasons why it was not part of the scheme,” he said, “but also we could not get enough capacity from the grid to the site.

“The scope of the operational centre was approved, and completely providing that infrastructure was not in it.”

Cllr Chris Bright (Lib Dem, Great Torrington) said: “I appreciate the electric fleet is not going to come this week, but it will at some time… If we might have a limit in energy capacity, that is fundamental. We are going to struggle in the future.”

Mr Kearney said the site’s energy capacity is constrained, but this might not always be the case. “At present, it is not possible, and if it were, it would be hugely costly, and it was not in the budget,” he said.

Construction has started on the hub in the past week, and it will provide office space for all employees working in waste and recycling and street cleansing.

It will also include vehicle workshops and fleet parking and is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year.

Local children will be able to use it as an educational resource. There will be an attenuation pond – essentially an area that collects rainwater – for environmental education, and improved cycle links connecting Manteo Way and Alverdiscott Road.

The council has £6 million in its capital programme for depot provision up to 2028/29.

Torridge was one of the worst-performing councils in England last year for tackling climate change, according to Climate Emergency UK’s scorecard.

Recently, the council’s climate change officer, Donna Sibley, said a lack of action to tackle carbon emissions had meant there had been no real decrease for the past four years.

The cost of replacing HGV diesel vehicles with electric ones and the inability of them to cope with hills, valleys, and lanes has been a stumbling block for rural councils like Torridge and North Devon.

Waste and recycling vehicles are among the largest carbon emitters for councils.