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Photo by shelley trussell I haven’t owned a car since my ancient VW Polo blew up 18 months ago. I didn’t replace it because I figured that as I lived three minutes walk from the office and could use the train or bus for my regular trips to Brighton, I could cope without. Anyway, when I did own a car, it was often just ‘abandoned’ near the Pells, collecting leaves, bird droppings and the occasional broken wing mirror. The big ‘need’ issue of shopping could be dealt with by regular ‘small shops’ and the occasional home delivery, whilst holidays/visits to parents could be handled via occasional car hire. Generally this works, but ‘unplanned’ trips and bad weather days (frequent this summer) lead to grumblings, and sometimes full-on doubts about the no-car policy. Luckily, however, it looks like there may be a handy solution right on the doorstep… Commonwheels Car Club is a joint venture between the company and <strong>Lewes</strong> District Council. When you join, as well as being able to book the two <strong>Lewes</strong> cars when they are available, you also get access to the Car Club fleet in other towns across the country. The idea is simple. They provide cars in central locations, and their members use them when they need them. I start with a visit to their website, and discovered via their car-cost calculator, that my previous (I thought modest) usage had cost me around £4,000 per year. Which is a lot of cash to be a target for passing rooks and seagulls. I feel my ‘might join’ tipping over to a ‘must join’. So I do. The initial W W W. V i Va L E W E s . C o M CommuNity Car The wheel deal w e t r y o u t stage takes a few days, including an on-line application, DVLA licence check and a joining fee of £25. Once registered, they send you a smart card and you’re off. For my maiden voyage, I book two hours and plan a ‘useful’ trip. As our washing-machine blew up a few days earlier, the most useful thing I can think of is a trip to the laundrette in Ringmer. We also plan to use the time to stock up on heavy stuff - tins, cat litter etc. Despite the fact that the postman hadn’t arrived with my smart card, Commonwheels are able to remotely open the vehicle for me, and bang on time, I am in a new Ford Fiesta, heading off to collect my partner Shelley, and the washing. The car is great (from the inside you can’t see the less than subtle branding) and as we load up the boot, the postman arrives, enabling us then to open and close the car as intended by flashing the smartcard on a window reader. Within our two hours we achieve all our tasks, even managing to nip out to Southease to bring <strong>Viva</strong>’s designer Katie and her urgently needed computer back to the office. Two trouble-free driving hours later, I have re-joined the carless, but am walking with a smile on my face, knowing that next time I need a car, a quick trip online would easily get me one, because I’m in the Club now you know… Nick Willliams A 2 hour trip cost £13.25 (£8.50 hire charge plus £4.75 for 25 miles usage at 19p per mile) 0845 602 8030 www.commonwheels.org.uk 9 1