Bass Coast Shire Council has secured $290,000 as a part of the State Government's $100 million Zero Emission Roadmap and the Destination Charging Across Victoria Program.
This funding will be used to install four 50kW DC destination electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Wonthaggi, Grantville, Inverloch and Newhaven by February 2023. Council has also contributed $140,000 from the Climate Change Action Plan Budget towards this project.
Bass Coast Shire Mayor, Cr Michael Whelan said that providing more EV infrastructure across the Shire is a key action of the Bass Coast Climate Change Action Plan.
"In 2019, transport made up 29.7 per cent of all Bass Coast's greenhouse gas emissions, so supporting local EV charging infrastructure is an important step to help us reach our target of net zero emissions by 2030," Cr Whelan said.
"Grantville has been selected due to its position on the Bass Highway. It is already a destination to break the journey to popular tourist destinations including Phillip Island and Inverloch.
"The Phillip Island Visitor Information Centre at Newhaven will provide people travelling in electric vehicles with an opportunity to visit the Centre and discover things to see and do right across the region and throughout Victoria, all while charging their EVs."
The charging station project will be delivered via a collaborative partnership between South Gippsland, Wellington and East Gippsland Shire Councils to ensure a coordinated Gippsland approach.
"We want Gippsland to be a leader in the EV tourism space which has been predicted to be valued at over $264 million in Victoria by 2030," Cr Whelan said.
"Providing increased access to EV charging points across Bass Coast will also have positive economic, social and environmental outcomes for our community."
In 2018-19, Bass Coast's visitor economy was estimated to generate approximately $549 million in direct visitor expenditure, equating to 5,900 jobs, contributing to 43.9 per cent of the region's Gross Domestic Profit.
"As we continue to diversify what we can offer to better target domestic markets, providing infrastructure such as EV charging stations becomes even more critical to ensuring Bass Coast benefits from a thriving visitor economy long into the future," Cr Whelan said.
"We have a number of sites that could accommodate additional chargers in the future, as the uptake of EVs increases."
