About Us
POD is a new car share scheme hopefully coming to the Calder valley very soon!
After Hour Car closed its doors after twenty years of enabling car sharing in the community, a group of ex-members put their heads together to set up a new scheme: POD Calder Valley Shared Transport.
Our aims are to cut down on car ownership, carbon emissions and over crowded parking. And to make access to cars possible without the astronomical costs of purchasing and maintaining a car.
Car share clubs offer key benefits to the local community, both economically and environmentally. An economically viable car club operating in the Calder Valley will:
- reduce car ownership: our survey research with members of Hour Car (a previous car club in the area) shows that their scheme led to people not buying or giving up their cars. This has a clear economic benefit for local residents.
- increase mobility: in particular, residents without a car, and most importantly, those that cannot afford a car, will be able to make journeys and reach destinations not possible with public transport
- reduce car dependency: by reducing the number of car owners, car dependency is reduced as people are less reliant on their privately-owned vehicles
- increase use of public transport: research shows that car clubs result in reduced car ownership which has the knock-on effect of increasing public transport journeys
- increase active travel journeys: it also has the knock-on effect of more journeys made on foot or by bicycle, with associated health benefits
At the broadest level, this will mean that POD will make a major contribution to Calderdale’s Net Zero target by 2038.
At the local level, reducing car ownership and the number of local trips by car and increasing active travel journeys brings clear benefits:
- reduced exposure to pollution: at present, transportation is the number one cause of CO2 in Calderdale.
- fewer road traffic injuries: in 2023, 142 people were seriously injured and 12 people died on Calderdale’s roads. Our scheme will, at least locally, lead to fewer cars on the road, contributing to increased safety.
- a cleaner, more pleasant local environment, particularly in town centres: by reducing the number of vehicles on the roads locally, we can contribute to creating less car-dominated town centres where greater space is given to other purposes that benefit local residents.
- economic benefits from reduced traffic/congestion: a reduction in the loss of working hours and increased productivity associated with fewer private vehicles on the road.
- reduced demand for car parking: by reducing car ownership, we reduce the competition for space to park cars. This is a key and often contentious issue in a steep-sided valley where space is limited and few houses have driveways."
A community benefit society is a social enterprise led by its members, but provides benefits for the whole community (in our case the Calder Valley). Key elements of a community benefit society are:
- annual general meetings open to all members;
- one member one vote - democratic;
- members put themselves forward for election to the Board of Directors;
- profits are reinvested back into the business or another activity that benefits the community;
- the society's assets must only be used to benefit the community, so if the society is sold, converted or ceases, any assets over and above those owed to creditors or shareholder members must be transferred to a similar type of organisations (known as an asset lock);
- members are able to invest in the organisation via withdrawable community shares;
- community shares are "patient capital", which means that they can only be withdrawn if there are sufficient trading profits and their withdrawal would not cause financial difficulty for the organisation;
- interest can be paid investors, but this must be at the minimum level required to obtain and maintain sufficient share capital.
As a community benefit society, POD will rely on people in the Calder Valley investing in community shares. Community shares are a type of investment that allows individuals and organisations to invest in the Society. They are a way for POD to raise the money we need to support our activities, which offer a clear benefit to the community in this area. All those people who invest via our share offer will become members of the Society and will have an influence over how POD works. Your support in becoming a shareholder member in POD is key to our success.
Community shares are withdrawable and not transferable (other than in the event of a member’s death). Shares cannot increase in value. Members can apply to withdraw their share capital, but it is the Board’s decision re whether the business can afford to fulfil withdrawal requests.
The Society is able to pay interest on shares at the lowest rate required to obtain and retain the share capital needed for the business. The interest must be the lowest required to gain and retain the share capital required and not higher than 5%. We have modelled paying 3% interest with effect from year 4, but will give members the option to pay between 0% and 3%. Hannah Nadim - one of our current Directors - is a licensed Community Shares Assessor for the Community Shares Standard Mark.
Look out for news on the launch of our share offer and how to invest.