Electric Vehicle Charging Hub approved in the Green Belt

Overview

Simply Planning Limited have secured full planning permission for 28 charging points and 10 e-bike chargers set around a central hub building with café facilities in Kings Langley.  However, the sites location within the Green Belt presented a challenge.

National Policy gives strong protection to the greenbelt, so far as to say the construction of new buildings is not acceptable. This means that proposals will not be granted permission unless they can demonstrate Very Special Circumstances justifying why they are. As the name suggests Very Special Circumstances are unique and exceptional conditions justifying the need for development which would normally be considered inappropriate.

Against the difficulty of building within the greenbelt we successfully argued that Very Special Circumstances existed owing to the need for on-route zero emission refuelling and the sites  proximity to the strategic highway network which connects Hemel Hempstead and Kings Langley.

Planning permission for the EV charging hub was awarded at planning committee, where these Very Special Circumstances were accepted.

As of 2024, the RAC reported there were 1,146,843 battery-electric vehicles on the road. With this increase in electric car ownership, there is now a strong demand for electric vehicle charging points. However, the ONS reported in April 2024 there were only 59,670 public electric vehicle charging stations across the UK. While this represents a significant increase over previous years, based on the predicted uptake of electric vehicles, 2.3 million charging stations will be required by 2030.

Now that the need for electric vehicle charging has been accepted as Very Special Circumstances, this represents a great opportunity for other schemes.