Blue badge holder ‘left with no choice’ but to buy petrol car after council reject EV charger request

A blue badge holder has had to scrap plans to buy his first electric car after the council denied his request for an Electric Vehicle (EV) charger outside his council property, after months of delays.

Mark Parker, 57, lives in a council owned block of flats with a car park in Saltoun Road, Brixton. 

He said: “At the end of August I was looking to buy a car and I really wanted to go electric.”

Mr Parker had two operations earlier this year which has limited his mobility. He has been able to drive for the first time since the operations in the last two weeks.

He said: “As soon as I could drive I went to a shop and picked out an electric car I liked – took it on a test drive and they said I could have it within a month. It was great.”

On August 31, Mr Parker emailed Lambeth council to install an EV charger in blocks his carpark. 

He said: “I saw on Lambeth’s website that you can register an EV charger at your home.

“So I got in touch and got an email back saying someone would respond in 10 days – I got nothing for three months and this week it was rejected.”

Lambeth council said that blue badge holders can use any EV charging bay in the borough, and that every house in Lambeth is within a five minute walk of a charge point.

But, Mr Parker said: “It’s just not feasible for me having had these operations to walk to a charging point in a road nearby.

“We have five parking spaces and a block of 15 flats, but there is one space left where a charger could have gone.

“You would think they would streamline this process if the council want people to go green, but it’s so difficult.”

Since his request for a charger was rejected by the council, Mr Parker has had to cancel his electric car. He said he had been holding off on making the payment because of Lambeth’s delays but had completed all the other paperwork.

He said: “Now I’m going to have to just get a normal petrol car – they’ve left me with no other option.

“There seems to be no support for people with mobility issues – even this week we got a letter saying we’re all being charged £31 for a new lock on our parking gate.

“That means I’m going to have to unlock the gate, get in my car, drive through the gate, get back out to lock the gate then get back in the car – it’s just not suitable for people with limited mobility.” 

A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: “We apologise that the situation has not been clearly communicated to the resident, and will work with them to explore the issue and potential solutions.

 “Lambeth recently adapted its new electric vehicle strategy which commits to installations on every estate, and new chargers which support blue badge holders.”

Pictured top: Mark Parker (Picture: Mark Parker)