Open Newtown and TripTo have recently worked with Welsh renewables firm Dulas to provide a community parking and charging space for an electric car on Dulas’s premises in Machynlleth. The electric car is part of a car club scheme to enable community access to green transport in an affordable way.
Open Newtown are working in collaboration with partners across North Powys to establish a string of car clubs along the Cambrian Railway Line, using electric vehicles to give low carbon and lower cost access to vehicles. TripTo are currently running car clubs in Llanidloes, Newtown, Machynlleth and Welshpool, with plans to set up more clubs as the scheme becomes more established. Dulas has provided the parking space on its premises in Machynlleth along with project management and labour to install the charging point.
Open Newtown is a community owned organisation that works to support sustainable community projects in and around Newtown. The car club scheme, provided by funding from Arwain Rural Development Plan for Wales, is just one of the projects it is working on. Open Newtown’s Mick Brown commented, “The car club is a great scheme for the community because not everyone wants the expense and hassle of owning a car, or perhaps your family only needs a second car occasionally – this is much cheaper than owning and running one.”
Ruth Chapman, MD of Dulas, commented, “We were very pleased to project manage the installation of this charging point and provide a parking space for the car on our property on an ongoing basis. As a renewables company, we fully support any project that aims to reduce the community’s carbon footprint. The car club is a great scheme and, as a local employer, we’re also just happy to make a contribution and commitment to the people in and around Machynlleth.”
Users need to sign up to the scheme and pay an annual membership fee in order to hire the cars on an ad hoc basis. Annual membership starts at less than £1 per week with an additional cost for the use of a car. Visit TripTo for more information on how to use the scheme.
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