The new Bangour village will be the most “connected” community in West Lothian when it’s completed.
Planners have demanded that the 1,000 homes in the village will have access to EV charging points, or the infrastructure to develop them.
The approval of changes to house styles in the plans for the first 100 homes also revealed the plans to future-proof the huge new housing estate as the roll out of electric vehicles continues, and the phasing out of petrol and diesel cars looms in the next decade.
The Development Management Committee approved the application by BDW Trading Ltd to grant an application for a substitution of house types and revised layout for 100 houses in the first phase of the Bangour Village development.
Conditions attached to the proposal demand the developers come back to the council with specific proposals about building a network of EV charging points.
The conditions seek assurances that where off-street parking is provided, one in every six residential units shall have an active ready to use electric vehicle charging point (7kw), located either in a garage or in close proximity to a dedicated car parking place within the driveway of the property and connected to the domestic electricity supply via a dedicated circuit.
Conditions further demand: “For all other residential units with off street parking, passive provision (cabling and individual fuse boxes provided) shall be provided to enable easy conversion to an active charging point should demand manifest itself.”
And: “For on-street parking, one in every six spaces shall have a fully connected, active and ready to use electric vehicle charging point (7kw).”
Planners also demanded: “Electric vehicle parking spaces should be counted as part of the overall car parking provision and not in addition to it.
“Details of who will be responsible for managing and maintaining charging infrastructure, including details of managing access to charging spaces and arrangements for paying for the electricity used during charging.”
A report to the committee by planning officer Gillian Cyphus explained the reasons for the latest application.
She said: “Some of the house type changes are as a result of a change in house builder. The majority of the layout changes are as a result of a reduction in the service strip requirements, meaning that houses and driveways are able to be brought forward, creating larger rear private gardens. Overall the total number of units on this part of the Bangour development will be reduced by two.”
Councillors agreed the proposals without comment.
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
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