The chairman of the Tywyn & District Chamber of Tourism and Commerce group says Gwynedd Council is neglecting Tywyn when it comes to the installation of charging points for electric cars.

Mike Stevens says the council’s neglect “is boarding on misconduct in public office”.

“Remote officials in Caernarfon seem to have little or no concern for the south of Gwynedd,” he said.

“Whilst they have been installing electric vehicle charging points throughout the county Tywyn has been neglected. Dolgellau had four installed in a prominent position at the front of the Marian car park in full use at the start of this year.

“Tywyn did have two charging points installed earlier this year. Inexplicably they were hidden at the back of the leisure centre which is very difficult to get to with motorists having to find a way off the high street down a very narrow lane. Even more unbelievable, however the charging points have never been connected so are of no use to anyone.

“The most popular car parking area is on Tywyn promenade which doesn’t have any charging points. So in the fight against climate change and while there is a massive push to encourage motorists to switch to electric vehicles Gwynedd Council are doing little to help. The Chamber of Tourism and Commerce (CTC) is very concerned about the detrimental effect this will have on tourist trade and the businesses in Tywyn. I have discussed this with Gwynedd Council many times prior to the Covid pandemic and was assured they would be looking to install charging points. It appears however this was nothing more than lip service as remote officials simply have no ‘skin in the game’ in that it doesn’t affect them, their families or their friends so its of no interest to them. The people of Tywyn get far less return for the council Tax they pay as most of the money is spent in the north.

“I now call upon chief executive Dafydd Gibbard to address this lack of vehicle charging in Tywyn and give us the same consideration as other parts of Gwynedd.”

Gwynedd Council says it is developing a network of over 100 charging points “to encourage and facilitate sustainable travel”.

There are working points at eight sites, with work going ahead to install charging points at other sites.

“In Tywyn, charging points for four vehicles is in the process of being commissioned, which will be located at the car park of the Bro Dysynni Leisure Centre in the town,” a spokesperson said.

“The majority of work has been completed on this project, and we expect that the charging points will be available for the public to use early in the new year.

“This site has been chosen as it will be possible to connect the chargers to the leisure centre’s electricity supply, which will mean that the cost to the public of using the charger will be lower.

“We will be happy to consider other possible locations in the future as part of the next phase of introducing charging points for electric vehicles.”­