It's all very well trying to cut carbon emissions and save the environment by using our cars less, but without one many people would be hard pushed to survive in the local area.

Kingsbridge itself is served relatively well with regular buses operating to the bigger cities of Plymouth and Exeter several times daily, plus good connections to Totnes, Dartmouth, Salcombe and Modbury.

However, when it comes to living in the surrounding villages such as Hope Cove, Rue or East Prawle, bus services are not quite so helpful. Without a car to get around, you can be well and truly stuck in the village, or if you live in the middle of nowhere, isolated.

It's also rather depressing when you can live down here in the depths of Devon and still be a 30 or 40 minute drive to the nearest train station, which people from London and other big cities find laughable.

There are several taxi services operating in the area, but costs would become astronomical if you had to order one every time you wanted to go somewhere.

If you don't drive, or simply don't have a car, and the bus service isn't for hours yet (if it even comes round your way), then cycling is perhaps the only viable option - but how many cyclists do you generally see on the roads around here?

At this time of year, when its liable to pour down with rain at the flick of a switch, cycling carries a high risk of a soaking. Sales of raincoat would probably shoot through the roof if the idea took off though. Plus there's all those hills. At least cycling would improve the general fitness of the population, and certainly build up the average person's thigh muscles.

The cycle path to Salcombe was a great idea, but it is not used to its maximum potential. More cycle paths in the area, with a campaign to promote their use, would surely be something the local government could look into.

Walking is another option. But again, walking to the village shop is one thing: a five mile trek into town is something else. You could always hitch-hike on your way, which tends to be a relatively successful method in the friendly area of the South Hams. But there's no guarantee of who you're going to meet and where they are going.

There's plenty of things to do and places to visit in the surrounding area of Kingsbridge, but it's getting to them that's the problem. Improvements in public transport would help, and perhaps some form of car share service.

Other than that, I would strongly urge anyone who can't drive to learn, and anyone who can but doesn't own a car to save up for one. At the moment driving seems to be the only sensible option to make the most of getting around the beautiful area we live in – those who don't have a vehicle are potentially missing out on a great deal.