Highland Council vehicle fined for blocking EV charger at its Inverness HQ
Highland councillors have urged staff training to resume after a council vehicle was left blocking a public charger for a month.
The vehicle was abandoned in the council’s own car park behind its Glenurquhart Road headquarters.
Local parking wardens in Inverness spotted the pesky van and swiftly issued a fine.
The vehicle was spotted multiple times by Councillor Patrick Logue (Lib Dem, Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh) who raised the issue at a Climate Change committee meeting.
The council has 52 charging points in depots across the Highlands but sometimes public charging points are used.
It is one of the council’s 89-strong fleet of electric vehicles. However, this only makes up about eight per cent of all council vehicles, the rest of which are fossil-fuelled.
Cllr Logue stressed this was an “extreme example” but said council vehicles regularly overstay their welcome.
“The council should be acting as an example when it comes to responsible use of public chargers,” he said.
“It’s like Highland Council putting a fine on a Highland Council van - it just makes no sense.
“[Highland Council] are taking up spaces from people who need to use them.
“No one would block a petrol pump for days if they weren’t using it.”
Council officers said it was an “education issue” and they would look into improving the council’s electric vehicle use.
The council’s electric vehicle use has declined over the past couple of years, citing a lack of charging infrastructure and “EV range anxiety”.
It also has no ability to service electric vehicles, so relies on local garages for maintenance.
Council employees may not be as clued-up on EV etiquette as officers had hoped.
A council report outlined training targets due to be completed earlier this year have not been met.
Council officers said all of the senior management have been trained in the council’s net zero agenda, and training for all other staff will now begin in due course.
The hope is the training will include electric charging protocols and ensure electric charging points are available for use when possible.
