[Puffer Fish]

This is the result of Progressive wokeism (in my view).

An older retired man in the UK bought an electric car, but then discovered that his local council would not permit him to charge his electric car outside his home.

David Kelsall, who lives in Hathershaw, Oldham, said he had been pleading with Oldham Council for six months to let him charge his car on the street outside his home.

The council said running cables across pavements could pose a "trip hazard" and it was "still waiting for guidance" about allowing on-street charging.

Like many houses in older city neighborhoods, his home has no garage and the only place to park is on the street.

The man says he feels unsafe using the nearest public charger, which is three miles (4.8 km) away from his home, due to his heart condition and "anti-social behavior" in the area.

(The man is a retired car mechanic)

Apparently 40 percent of the homes in the UK do not have driveways.

The UK government has passed a law and is implementing a policy to "phase out" and finally ban the sale of conventional petrol vehicles by 2035. Initially the plan had been to reach the final phase out by 2030, but the date was extended.

Councillor Chris Goodwin said: "We are still waiting for guidance to be published and in the meantime are working with Transport for Greater Manchester to develop a regional approach." He said trials in other areas showed cables in "pavement channels" could be "dangerous" to pedestrians, especially people with limited vision or mobility issues.

So basically this old man was coerced and pressured into getting an electric car by an inept government, and then inept local government prevents him from being able to conveniently charge the car in front of his house.


I did look up the public charging stations in Oldham and most of the closer charging stations seem to be the slower type, that would take around 7 hours to charge, and none of them are within walking distance for an older man.
Just a little further there are two faster charging stations, that could charge a car in just a little under an hour, but they appear to be more expensive.
All of these charging stations appear to be in a higher density more downtown area, as opposed to this man's home which is a little further out in the suburbs.

The fact that this man might not feel the most safe waiting around at one of those charging stations is believable.

High immigration levels from foreign parts of the world have made many areas less safe in the UK.

If I was a 70 year old man, I definitely would not want to be having to wait around one of those unsafe areas. There have been many instances around Oldham were random people walking on the street have been stabbed by "youths".

Here are just a few news articles I was able to quickly pull up to give you a small taste of what sort of crimes are prevalent in the area:

"Six people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was stabbed to death in Oldham. Officers were called to Flora Street at around 3am."
Oldham stabbing: Six arrested after man killed in Greater Manchester, Joe Middleton, The Independent, 25 March 2021

"A teenager has been taken to hospital after being stabbed. The incident took place on Dean Street in Ashton-under-Lyne this afternoon, February 7. The man, aged 18, has injuries which are serious, but not life-threatening."
Boy, 18, stabbed as police cordon in place in Oldham , Zach Harris, Lancashire Telegraph

"Police have released CCTV footage after a couple suffered broken ankles during a violent robbery. Greater Manchester Police said they were walking down Huddersfield Road in Oldham at about 0:30 (12:30 am) on 4 July when they were approached by a group of youths. The 43-year-old woman and 45-year-old man were forced to the ground before being robbed of their phones and cash."
Appeal after Oldham couple suffer broken ankles in robbery, 15 July 2016

"An 87-year-old man was attacked and dragged into a car by two men, before being driven away and dumped 15 miles from his home." (in Oldham)
"The Detective Inspector said it was an awful attack on an elderly man who was "simply walking down the street".
Man, 87, bundled into car and dumped 15 miles away , BBC, 16 September 2024​


This man has clearly been placed in an untenable situation.

I think it should be emphasized that buying an electric car wasn't simply just a choice for this man. The UK government is already doing various things to pressure people to buy them.
Right now (as of 2024), there is a mandate that 22% of cars being sold have to be electric. Economically this results in a price increase for non-electric cars, which effectively subsidizes the price of electric cars.

(The mandate is set to increase to 80% by 2030 )

But part of the reason this man chose to buy an electric car was also out of a sense of duty and social altruism, since he was concerned about the level of air pollution in Greater Manchester.

article:
Man 'blocked' from charging car outside own home, Charlotte Hall, BBC, October 28, 2024

[Puffer Fish]

It seems in this nation-wide push for electric cars, none of the planners policy-makers quite worked out who it is who should be held financially liable if a pedestrian trips over one of these electric cables going over a sidewalk so someone can charge their electric car.

(The car owner? The local council? The city government? Maybe the national government for forcing consumers to have to have these electric cars, which in some cases require using a cable that goes over a sidewalk? The last one is sarcasm of course)

And the same progressive Left that has been forcing these electric cars down the throats of consumers is also very enthusiastic about making parties pay out money in lawsuits, so that anyone who suffers in an accident can get a huge payout of money.

I wonder how much the extra insurance is going to end up costing these electric car owners, to pay for this additional legal liability?

This just sounds like more burdens imposed on the people and consumers. Government will never take responsibility for them problems their policies cause to the people.
The unfortunate consumers in the U.K. who need a car and don't have a garage or driveway will just be out of luck.

[ingliz]

@Puffer Fish

Why not apply for planning permission to dig up the pavement, route the wires underground, plant a short pole, and put an outlet in the street?

It shouldn't cost you/the owner more than a few thousand pounds - It's a do-it-yourself job if you're handy with the tools. Of course, you'd have to allow for many months of farting around with surveys, environmental impact assessments (a newt may have taken up residence in your birdbath), consultation periods, and council jobsworths.

[Puffer Fish]

Why not apply for planning permission to dig up the pavement, route the wires underground, plant a short pole, and put an outlet in the street?

If you read the article, he did ask for permission to build what's called a pavement channel, and they rejected it.

A pipe that would just go under the sidewalk is theoretically possible, but would be more difficult (and possibly expensive) to install. And I suspect it would also be difficult to get the cable to go through the long length of that pipe every time the car needed to be charged. It's difficult to get a power cord or cable to go through a long narrow horizontal pipe.

I'm sure if you give some thought to that, you can see the problems and complications that approach would have.

Theoretically it might be possible to have a section of cable left permanently in the pipe, but then there would have to be two additional outlet connections, and those would have to be waterproof (England has a rainy wet climate), there might have to be additional drainage designed to make sure those outlet areas would not pool with water, and there would have to be cables custom cut to the proper length and fitted with plugs. And of course these would have to be strongly attached, safe, and waterproof, which is perhaps not so easy for a crafty individual to do. That sounds like it could be a little bit complicated and expensive. These cables, remember, are not just normal power cords but are rated for much higher levels of electric power.

I'm guessing he probably does not want to leave a long cable outside permanently exposed all the time. So there are several things that would have to be considered here.

A threading tool, like a long rod, might be possible to push (or pull) the cable through the pipe, but that would require a lot of extra effort every time the car needed to be charged and would be inconvenient.

[ingliz]

@Puffer Fish

You dig a trench avoiding existing utilities like sewer lines, etc.

Take your conduit and thread your cable before laying it.

Fill the bottom of the trench with gravel and compact it.

Lay in the conduit and compact gravel around it.

Fill the trench with gravel and compact it.

Make good.

Connect the cable to the switchable house supply and the proprietary post with the charging station.

Get the installation inspected and certified.

Job done.