New electric charging bays outside the Foundry at Larbert

Work at the Foundry in Larbert is continuing with contractors now expected to start refitting work during late summer, with fitting out taking place in September and employees starting to use the facility, over October.

One of the opportunities that Foundry will present is the move toward more sustainable forms of transport. Falkirk Council has received Scottish Government funding (managed by the Energy Saving Trust EST) that included £100k towards charging point infrastructure and £76k towards electric vehicle purchase. EST also ran the Switched on Fleets project.

The funding helps us meet the ambitions towards more zero-emission vehicles in our fleet as well as the phasing out of the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2032.

The Foundry will have a total of 14 charging points (some double) to allow for Council and visitor vehicles to charge up.

Some services will have their own dedicated vehicle however a number of vehicles will be available for pool use.

Fleet manager Pat Taggart explained: “We’re making good progress towards our targets and with the opportunity that Foundry offered us, it was an easy decision to apply for the funding to help us with the Council’s declaration of a climate emergency.”