An “ambitious” plan to bring more electric vehicle charging stations to Windsor and Maidenhead has been moved forward by the council.

The council’s cabinet has approved the next steps towards providing the charging infrastructure needed to meet an anticipated surge in electric car ownership over the next decade.

Councillors greenlit officer recommendations to us the Oxford Dynamic Purchasing System as a route to procurement.

The authority is also expected to bid for nearly £1m in government funding to allow a fast-track rollout of the charge point infrastructure.

Transport lead councillor Geoff Hill told cabinet that a key driver for the plan is “obviously” climate change, highlighting the 219 kilotons of carbon dioxide emitted in the area in 2020 alone.

According to the officer’s report, this makes transport the area’s single biggest contributor to climate change – with the figure representing one third of the borough’s total emissions.

It comes as the number of electric cars in the borough is expected to jump to 50,000 by 2035 – up from just 4,000 today.

The officers’ report claimed that 600 on-street charging sockets, as well as 125 in council car parks, would have to be put in place to meet the 2035 demand.

This would represent an increase from 38 on-street and four car park charge points at present.

The report adds: “Whilst charging on private property is usually cheapest and most convenient, not all residents and businesses can charge in this way, and not all the time.”

Councillor Joshua Reynolds said: “I think it’s really important that we highlight how ambitious that this administration is being through these proposals.”

These plans would help give residents and businesses “the confidence” to make the switch to electric vehicles sooner, the officers’ report added.

Council leader Simon Werner told cabinet: “What’s really good about it as well is we’re not burdening the council taxpayer with paying for it.

“It’s being funded by the government and it’s being funded by developers. So it’s a win-win and it stops the budget being affected.”