The former Rowley’s Green Working Men’s Club is set to be the site of the city’s first large scale Electric Vehicle Charging Station.
The 1.5 acre site is a prominent site close to the Coventry Building Society Arena and the northern entry to the city from the M6 and A444. The site fronts Burbages Lane, the CBS Arena roundabout and the A444.
The Club closed in 2011 and has not been used since, other than for informal parking and storage, particularly on match days at the CBS Arena.
The site already has planning permission for a drive through restaurant.
The new scheme will provide a minimum of 20 150+KW high speed electric vehicle charging points together with a drive through restaurant, ancillary retail space and catering facilities to keep drivers occupied while their cars are charged. The development is described as “Much like a petrol station – but for electric vehicle charging.”
The development will be carried out by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), which has secured funds from EVCATS (Electric Vehicle Charging Area Transit Scheme) programme to implement the scheme.
The Coventry scheme will be one of a network of nine schemes planned across the region, with two others already identified in Erdington in Birmingham and the SW of Birmingham.
Funding for the £48 million network is part of the region’s £1.3 billion City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) from government supported by private investment.
The City Council owns the freehold to the Holbrooks site and has a long lease with a property developer. The Council has now agreed to sell the land to the WMCA at a price which exceeds £1 million. The details have not been revealed to the public. It is expected that the property developer will either be a partner in the scheme or sell on the lease.
Update 29/8/2024
A report on the BBC website says that the leaseholder of the site has complained that they had not been consulted on the plans. Readleaf Ltd. which has planning permission for a drive-through and state that they had plans for a charging station there. The Council report that this article was based on has been deferred for discussion with the leaseholder.