Residents are set to benefit from the introduction of 2,458 new charging points across the Medway Towns.

Installations are expected to begin in April next year after Medway Council awarded a 15-year contract to charge point operator, Believ.

The council plans to roll out the new infrastructure in local areas where off-street charging from people’s homes is not an option.

About 140 “key sites” will be installed within the first two years, the council said.

As part of the contract, Believ will also run and maintain the chargers.

The news comes as recent government figures showed that Medway was among the worst-served local authority areas for the number of public charging points available.

As of July, there were only 232 chargers across the Towns – or around 79 chargers per 100,000 of the population.

The scheme is backed by £2.14 million from the government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Capital Fund, and supported by £17.7 million of investment from Believ.

Councillors praised the initiative at a Cabinet meeting on 4 August, with Cllr Simon Curry saying it was “long awaited” but “very exciting”.

He said: “The scale of this is huge and the benefits from a climate perspective are clear in terms of air pollution.

“Lung health in young children affects them for the rest of their lives and that leads to care needed in later life.

“This is one of the solutions for the next generation and it’s fantastic to see.”

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