Streethay and Whittington are the only Lichfield district sites on a £4.6m county charger longlist. The district already has Staffordshire's best coverage.
Two sites in Lichfield district are on Staffordshire County Council’s longlist of 87 places for new public electric car chargers. They are the Streethay Community Centre site and the car park at Whittington Bowling Club. None of Lichfield District Council’s city car parks is on the list.
The county’s Cabinet will be asked on Wednesday 18 November to approve the £4.588 million programme, which is paid for by the government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund. It would also start a trial of charging channels cut into the pavement, for homes with no driveway (Cabinet report, 18 November 2026).
Lichfield’s small share is not a sign that it has been passed over. The county’s own figures show the district already has the best charger coverage in Staffordshire.
The two Lichfield sites
The county’s site appendix lists each longlisted car park with its owner:
| Site | Owner on the list | Postcode |
|---|---|---|
| Streethay Community Centre site | Streethay Parish Council | WS13 8FT (estimated) |
| Whittington Bowling Club car park | Whittington and Fisherwick Parish Council | WS14 9LQ |
Across the county, the longlist splits like this:
- East Staffordshire: 26 sites
- Staffordshire Moorlands: 16
- Cannock Chase and Newcastle-under-Lyme: 11 each
- South Staffordshire: 9
- Stafford: 8
- Tamworth: 4
- Lichfield: 2
(Appendix 6, indicative site selection).
A place on the list is not a promise of a charger. The report says sites will be assessed for need, likely use, grid capacity, cost and planning. Some will be removed, deferred or swapped. Taking part is voluntary for the councils that own the land, and the final sites will be agreed only after a contractor is chosen.
Why Lichfield has so few
The report does not say why only two Lichfield sites made the list. Its evidence appendix does show where the gap is biggest, measured by how many homes without off-street parking are within a five-minute walk of a public charger.
In Lichfield district, 8,801 households have no off-street parking. Of those, 1,974 are within a five-minute walk of a charger. That is 22.4%, the highest of the eight districts. The Staffordshire average is 12.1%, and East and South Staffordshire are below 7% (Appendix 3, on-street charging evidence).
That still leaves 6,827 Lichfield households without a driveway and without a charger nearby.
Across the county, the report says the new public chargers would lift the number of driveway-less homes within a five-minute walk from 9,740 to about 16,907.
The pavement charging trial
The second half of the plan is for people who park on the street outside their home. The county does not allow trailing cables or cable covers across pavements. Instead, it wants to test approved channels set into the pavement, which the report calls electric vehicle gullies, to carry the charging cable safely.
The plan for the trial:
- Phase one: up to £250,000 to test costs, installation and how residents pay
- Phase two: up to £1.75 million more, only if the trial works and Cabinet agrees
- Average cost: about £1,200 per home
- Proposed resident contribution: £150 per installation
- Free for: Blue Badge holders, Motability vehicle users and homes in council tax Band A, subject to checks
Those figures come from the draft framework, which the county says is not final (Appendix 4, draft delivery, eligibility and technical framework). The main report says support for serving armed forces members and veterans may also be considered.
A channel would not give anyone a reserved space outside their house. Every application would be checked for pavement width, wheelchair access, trees, drains and highway safety.
The county’s 2026 consultation drew 554 responses, 231 of them from eligible residents. Around nine in ten of those said they would consider using a channel. Their main worries were cost, liability, rows with neighbours and access for people with mobility problems.
What the public chargers would look like
The county does not plan to own or run the chargers. It wants a single operator on a 15 to 20 year concession, backed by up to £2.588 million of the grant. The report says grouping sites in one contract will help bring investment to rural locations that would not pay on their own. The operator would install, run and maintain them and handle payments.
Lower-powered chargers would go where people park for longer, with faster ones only where the evidence supports it, the report says.
What it means for you
- If you live in Streethay or Whittington: the two longlisted sites are run by your parish councils, so ask them whether they intend to take part.
- If you have no driveway: the pavement trial is countywide, but nothing is open to apply for yet. Cabinet first has to approve it on 18 November.
- If you charge in the city today: Lichfield District Council’s own public chargers are two units at the Friary car park, at £0.49 per kWh. You pay to park as well (Lichfield District Council, electric car charging).
The Cabinet papers are published on the county’s website (Cabinet, 18 November 2026).
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