An electric vehicle charger can be installed for the vicars of a church who live next to beautiful public gardens.
St Peter’s Church was founded and consecrated in 1162, and has undergone a series of changes in the centuries since then.
The surrounding estate formally laid-out gardens – Caversham Court Gardens – in the 17th century, with grand walls being established at the time.
The garden became open in the 20th Century.
Just outside the walls is the Rectory, the home of the vicar, which itself dates back to 1843.
The church, its walls and the Rectory are Grade II listed buildings owing to their history.
Therefore, the current church leaders, Mike Smith, the rector, and his wife, Rachel Ross Smith, the associate vicar, required planning permission to install an electric vehicle (EV) charger.
The installation of the private charger was approved by Reading Borough Council’s planning department on May 7.
Mrs Smith said: “We have just bought an electric car. The planning permission, which has taken ages, has just been granted, so I know it’s going to be installed at some point, I don’t know when.
“It’s all part of that listing status of the whole lot. I’ve been working as a priest for the last three years. I’ve been one since 2001, we moved here in 2014, and my husband is the rector of the three churches.
“I was working as the chaplain of Queen Anne’s School in Caversham, and I’m the part-time vicar.
“My husband has become the Area Dean, looking after the clergy of the Reading area on behalf of the bishop.”
Right Reverend Mary Gregory is the Bishop of Reading, with the deanery covering a number of churches in the town.
Mrs Smith was keen to stress that the EV charger is private.
She said: “The charger will only be a private one, and my husband has gone through all the right processes.
“There are some parking spaces for disabled people which we keep free so that disabled people have access to Caversham Court Gardens, so we don’t want people coming to charge cars there because that will prevent people using the gardens.
“So there is no public charger there.”
There are public charging points at the car park for Caversham High Street, and the Chester Street and Thames Promenade car parks, which are both run by the council.
Assessing the project, planning officer Gary Miles noted that the charger would not have a physical impact on the Rectory, and will instead be
attached to a post secured into the ground next to a large hedge.
It was therefore judged to be compliant with the council’s planning policies.
You can view the approved application by typing reference PL/26/0334 into the council’s planning portal.
