Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Charging EVs on-street - is it allowed now?
Recently I've noticed a few electric vehicles (not hybrids) parked outside terraced houses on the Ladder being charged via a cable running from the property across the pavement. Is this now allowed or does Haringey council turn a blind eye to this? In most (but not all) cases the cable was protected by a heavy rubber channel that buggies, shopping trolleys, cycles, etc can easily ride over; one imaginative EV motorist even had a scaffold pole lashed vertically to the side of a van with the cable passing about 10 feet above the pavement to an upstairs window.
I first asked about this on HoL 4 years ago (see here) but the discussion petered out - understandable really since back then 100% EVs were much less common than they are now.
Tags for Forum Posts: electirc vehicle charging points, electric cars
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Maddy on
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My neighbours across the road were threatened with prosecution last year for doing this - someone apparently complained even though the cable was welll-protected. But I've noticed other people seem to get away with it.
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Permalink Reply by andy thomas on
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So presumably running the cable high up above the pavement and out of reach of passersby would not result in prosecution? This would be very easy to arrange if there was a tree in the pavement right outside the house!
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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Here's a link to Haringey's Planning Advice Note for residents.
"Under the Highways Act 1980, Part IX Lawful and Unlawful Interference with Highways and Streets, it is illegal for any person to place or run a cable or wire along or across a public highway. Having the cable trail from your home, across the pavement to your car will cause a safety hazard."
They rule out bridging ramps/cable protectors and the use of sunken drainage channels too. They are silent on the high-level scaffold pole setup.
Footnote: the exact wording in the Highways Act has a qualifier which Haringey omits:
"162 Penalty for placing rope, etc. across highway.
A person who for any purpose places any rope, wire or other apparatus across a highway in such a manner as to be likely to cause danger to persons using the highway is, unless he proves that he had taken all necessary means to give adequate warning of the danger, guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale."
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I suppose this begs the question: is a pedestrian pavement a highway or not?
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No it's not acceptable or lawful. In the event of an earthing fault you could kill a passerby.
Yes EVs make the most sense in the city, but there is the least infrastructure to support them.
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Along with a complete lack of commitment to electrifying their own vehicle fleet, the absence of any plan for roadside or lamp-post EV charging points is one of the most lamentable failures in the Council’s imposition of LTNs across the borough. Whilst making cross-borough travel harder and significantly less convenient by funnelling polluting traffic onto already overcrowded roads — just as public transport is also being hammered with cuts and truncations — the Council shows no willingness to share the burden through any commitment of its own to carbon reduction or to make it easier for people to switch from petrol engines to electric ones. Presumably it will suit the Council better to fine residents for stretching wires across pavements and creating trip hazards than to put infrastructure in place to obviate the need to do so in the first place.
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Permalink Reply by LindaS on
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EV charging cables across pavements are a trip hazard. Last year I tripped over a charging cable on a ladder road. The cable was covered with a raised box, not a low rubber blanket-type covering. My hip was broken and I needed surgery. While I was recuperating, my partner notified the council who stated that they do not give permission for the use of charging cables across pavements. They investigated this case and issued a community protection warning notice to the person using the cable. I am unaware of any attempt by the Council to prosecute.
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That’s really dreadful, but it certainly underlines my previous point. If the Council took the initiative and installed charging points it would minimise the risk of other people suffering in the same way. Do hope you’re fully recovered, Linda.
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Have you asked/ volunteered to have the council install one outside your house? and how many are needed in total across the whole borough? I’ve no idea, but id guess one for every 5-10 cars in haringey, assuming all vehicles will ultimately be electric. I’m thinking the removal of one parking space in every six, on a typical ladder road, for example. I’ve no idea, I’m not an EV expert but it would give the rest of us some idea of the scale of the task.
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Sorry folks I’m just noodling through this chilling on the sofa.
Why is this even a council problem?? No one buys petrol from the council so surely this is a private sector thing. Has anyone contacted Tesla or whom ever to ask for one outside their house?? And what response did they get??
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