Borough of Queenscliffe’s decision to install two electric vehicle chargers has locals fired up
To some they are an important element of the country’s energy transition, but to a group of residents on the Bellarine Peninsula they are a blight on a local landscape rich in history.
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To some they are a visual representation of the country’s ongoing energy transition, but to a group of residents on the Bellarine Peninsula they are a blight on a local landscape rich in history.
Opponents say the Borough of Queenscliffe’s (BOQ) decision to install two electric vehicle (EV) fast-chargers outside council’s headquarters on Learmonth St last year was made without community consultation.
Furthermore, they say the decision flies in the face of council’s own commitment to conserve and protect heritage in the area.
Jo Pitt, who has launched a series of petitions to relocate the chargers, points to well in excess of a dozen heritage-listed homes within a few hundred meters of the chargers.
“Learmonth St is a quiet, tree-lined, residential-zoned street that has many significant houses and buildings listed in the Victorian heritage register, including the Town Hall itself,” she told councillors ahead of their most recent meeting.
At that February 28 meeting, a push to have the chargers relocated, based upon Ms Pitt’s petitions and similar to what Southern Grampians Shire vowed to do following backlash, was voted down 3-2.
Councillors Donnie Grigau and Michael Grout agreed that a new site should be chosen that was based on broad community engagement and assessment.
“I can’t support something the community didn’t have a say in,” Mr Grigau said.
Local National Trust president Graham Hobbs wrote a letter in support of the relocation.
In it, he labelled the installation an act of “official vandalism”.
“The Geelong and region branch of the National Trust deplores the insensitive siting of the EV chargers in the heritage streetscape of Learmonth St,” Mr Hobbs wrote.
David Kenwood, a former BOQ councillor and now president of the Point Lonsdale Civic Association, advocates for the conservation and maintenance of historic buildings, sites and precincts in the area.
“These EV units look like giant poker machines stuck in a residential street which has 13 key heritage properties, without any consultation, planning process or third-party rights for nearby residents,” he said.
The cost of the chargers was just shy of $180,000, aided by a $70,000 contribution from the state government.
They have since generated a profit of around $5000 for the BOQ.
A spokeswoman conceded council did not undertake extensive community consultation and the EV chargers were exempt from requiring a planning permit.
She said the installation of the chargers was an “action” of the BOQ’s climate emergency response plan, which the community played a significant part in preparing.
Five alternative locations were ruled out because of insufficient space for users to reverse up to the chargers, as well as a lack of access to appropriate power supply.
Council officers recommended the Learmonth St location based on its “safety, accessibility, and proximity to services” and chief executive Martin Gill signed off on the plan.
The spokeswoman said the location did not compromise any of BOQ’s heritage design guideline objectives.
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Originally published as Borough of Queenscliffe’s decision to install two electric vehicle chargers has locals fired up
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