Northern Midlands Council supports new EV charging station 'in principle'

The Northern Midlands Council discussed a proposal from the National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) during its monthly meeting on May 20.

The NRMA approached the local government in late February with a plan to build EV infrastructure in Ross.

The High Street site would host the town's first fast charging station if approved, with the next nearest location found 11 kilometres North in Campbell Town.

The NRMA claims the station "will be developed and operated at no cost to the council or community" but asked the Northern Midlands to sign a letter of intent.

Although the agreement would be non-binding, councillors unanimously followed the officer's recommendation to not sign it at this stage.

Instead, the council agreed to the proposal "in principle", confirming their support while not giving full confidence until certain aspects are finalised.

The local government has detailed four points of concern, with disability access included in the lineup.

"NRMA should be responsible for any cost of footpath from the charging station to the existing footpath," said senior planner Paul Godier.

"It's also noted that they need to consult with the adjoining landowner regarding the location of vehicle crossovers."

The Northern Midlands Council met about the project on April 22 but decided to postpone the decision while it looked into how these deals had been done in neighbouring councils.

"We could only find Launceston Council with EV charging stations on their property, and they were actually installed by the council themselves, so they don't have a market rate," Mr Godier said.

"From previous discussions with councillors, it's understood that we should let NRMA know that we would look at reviewing the market rent after five years."