Opinion
Now, if you or I were to run an extension cable across the footpath to run an electrical device on the nature strip, we could be absolutely sure the council would be on us, PDQ. If we were to stack jerry cans of petrol by the curb, to fill up our car — hoo, boy.
When it comes to the smugmobiles, though, it seems the rules just don’t apply.
It’s one of the big conundrums for inner-city Aussies as we move into the electric vehicle era. Where exactly will those without off-street parking charge their electric cars?
Well for one council, a make-shift and divisive charging method appears to already be on the chopping block. Sydney’s Inner West council had given a handful of applicants approval to charge their electric vehicles kerbside via a covered cable running across the footpath from their homes.
Even the silvertailed wokesters of Balmain have their limits, though.
However a council spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia that such a scheme is no longer being pursued.
“Due to safety concerns, council is not actively supporting the charging of electric vehicles at the kerbside by running a power lead across [the footpath],” they revealed.
A glance at online discussions about such a method quickly reveals how divisive it is among the community. While some were all for it being done safely, many argued it simply couldn’t be achieved and if ramped up would be “too dangerous” and a major hazard. Those in favour say pubs and tree roots cause similar trip hazards.
Of course. Many’s the time I’ve been walking down the street, and completely failed to see the pub that was right in my path. Damn menace, if you ask me.
One resident approved for a six-month permit told Yahoo he enjoyed the convenience of charging directly outside his home, and feared scrapping the scheme would make it hard for him and others to find a place to charge vehicles anywhere near their homes.
Yet, here am I, in a little Tasmanian country town, and there’s a 4-bay charging station at the local shopping centre, barely 500 meters from my home.
What really irks these smugsters, apparently, is the prospect of being held accountable for their own virtue-signalling.
To be approved for his own kerbside parking, the resident was instructed to include Inner West Council as an interested party on his home insurance in case anyone claimed as a result of an injury caused by the installation […]
The Inner West LGA has a high proportion of terraced housing without onsite parking in areas such as Balmain and Newtown. So what now for these residents and electric vehicles?
Who cares? Why is it anyone else’s problem? If you or I started complaining that there wasn’t a bowser right outside our door, we’d be rightly told to stop being such a whining Nancy and just go and find a petrol station, like everyone else.
Leading kerbside charger supplier EVX has warned councils across Australia they must act now to meet the demand from electric vehicle owners.
Yahoo News Australia
Gosh, because it’s not as if that company has a pecuniary interest, or anything.
Here’s a thought, you grifting bastards: do what everyone else does and pay to develop your own business sites.