Currently under construction, Suffolk Business Park in Bury St Edmunds has announced that it will explore ways of working with Plug In Suffolk, the UK’s first fully open public electric vehicle (EV) fast charging network. Installing EV charging points at the site will be an incentive for potential tenants, customers and visitors.
Plug In Suffolk, launched earlier this year, is a project run in partnership with Suffolk County Council, Stowmarket-based EO Charging and renewable energy provider, Bulb. It aims to install up to 400 EV charging points across the county at 100 business premises, car parks, hotels and anywhere that EVs could park for a short amount of time. This will make Suffolk a national leader in EV infrastructure.Representatives from those involved met at the site on Suffolk Day (Friday 21 June) to celebrate this truly Suffolk collaboration.
The developer of Suffolk Business Park is The Churchmanor Estates Company PLC. Development Director, Matt Cloke, said:
“Churchmanor are delighted to be working with EO Charging and Suffolk County Council as part of the Plug In Suffolk initiative. As a long-standing commercial developer in the eastern region it is important to us that we create sustainable built environments for generations to come. Suffolk Business Park is a key new development in Suffolk and as part of the leisure area of the Park we feel strongly that investing in initiatives such as electric vehicle charging points is essential and will benefit all users of the Park.”
Councillor Richard Rout, Cabinet Member for Environment and Public Protection at Suffolk County Council, said:
“As a local councillor in West Suffolk and an electric vehicle owner myself, I’m excited that this new development in Bury St Edmunds has the vision to incorporate electric vehicles into its infrastructure. Since the council announced a climate emergency in March, I am more determined than ever encourage businesses and communities to share our vision of Creating the Greenest County in Suffolk. Plug In Suffolk is just one of the many ways that we are working towards this and I’d encourage Suffolk’s businesses to find out how we can support their environmental ambitions.
John Jardine, Managing Director at EO Charging, said:
“Our Plug In Suffolk network is starting to grow, with charging points already installed in Beccles, Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich. It’s a big boost to our project to have a large development such as Suffolk Business Park onboard with our ambitions. Supporting Suffolk County Council with their Creating the Greenest County ambition is important to us as it reflects our company’s values. Suffolk’s EV charging network is not currently fit for purpose, we want to change that and are excited that developments like Suffolk Business Park want to be a part of that too.”
The fast charging points supplied by Plug In Suffolk do not require any registration, membership or apps – drivers simply park, plug-in and charge using contactless payment. The overall cost to businesses is negligible and if used regularly can even generate a small income.
For further information or to apply to join the ‘Plug In Suffolk’ network head to www.pluginsuffolk.org
