Leaseholder's shock over council EV charging plan

The plan is to introduce at least 20 high-speed EV charging points, with adjacent retail and cafe space

A council has deferred a decision on a £1m electric vehicle (EV) charging station scheme after a leaseholder said it was "shocked" it had not been consulted.

Developer Redleaf Limited said it also had an EV scheme planned and questioned spending public money on selling the former Rowleys Green Working Men's Club in Coventry to the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

Coventry City Council's cabinet was to discuss it at a meeting on Tuesday but said its report was held after "last-minute correspondence".

"As always, the council will act in good faith and look at this and as such the report has been deferred," a spokesperson said.

The derelict former Rowleys Green Working Men's Club site lies near the Coventry Building Society Arena

The report had set out a scheme to sell the derelict council-owned site for more than £1m to create a high-speed charging site for at least 20 EVs.

"This report seeks authority to dispose of the council’s freehold interest in this site to the WMCA," it stated.

However, Redleaf Ltd, which has leased part of the plot since 2013 and has planning permission in place for a drive-through restaurant, said it was "shocked and saddened" it had not been consulted.

Founder Paul Bishton said the Birmingham-based firm had spent 12 months working on new plans for an equivalent scheme, with "operators ready to commit".

"Now we find that the council and combined authority have privately hatched a deal for the site's sale, which is baffling," he said.

Mr Bishton said the leasehold was "originally purchased at the behest of the council and in good faith of both parties' mutual interest".

He added Redleaf had worked hard to deliver an EV scheme and now feared being "forced out of our own development plot".

"Why waste public money on repossessing this site when there is already an EV scheme ready to go through private investment?" he added. "It appears to be a senseless waste of public money".

The firm welcomed the news of the deferral and said discussions around its own proposals would continue.

The BBC has approached the WMCA for comment.