Third 'mobility hub' to be installed in city

Adding electric charging point was "about giving the community choice," said councillor Carmel Swan

A "mobility hub" including five electric vehicle charging points, a bike storage space, and a digital display showing bus service information is to be installed in Derby.

The city council said work to create the hub in Grove Street car park, off Normanton Road, will begin in spring 2025 and be completed within a few months.

The authority said the car park will also be resurfaced and refurbished - including new solar lighting with the new hub the third of its kind in the city.

Councillor Carmel Swan said it was part of a wider strategy "to develop locations across the city where there is potentially difficulty with on-road parking and electric vehicle charging".

'Leap of faith'

Swan, cabinet member for climate change, transport and sustainability, said the car park was currently a "very dreary, dark and unappealing place to park your vehicle".

"The idea behind this is not only will it be refurbished and resurfaced, but it will have the additional infrastructure to help people to make those decisions about the future of transport," she said.

The other hubs in the city are in Nottingham Road and Six Streets area, in Wheeldon Avenue and Statham Street.

Swan added: "Creating a new mobility hub for Normanton will allow taxis and people with electric vehicles in the community to safely charge their vehicles in what should be a really good, clean, open space."

When asked if there was a need for electric charging points in this area, she said: "If we don't have the infrastructure, the likelihood is people won't make that leap of faith to change.

"What we found with our other hub, operating in Darley, is that people have made that leap of faith."

The hub will be funded by the Department for Transport's Future Transport Zones fund.

Ahead of works starting, people have the opportunity to ask council officers about the hub at an event in the Grove Street car park from 11:00 to 15:00 on Tuesday.