CARBON BUSTERS
Leading holiday parks share their green credentials…
THE QUIET SITE is located near the shores of Ullswater in picture-perfect Lake District countryside
When it comes to combating climate change, the holiday park industry stands loud and proud above most other sectors when it comes to carbon neutral investment.
Before you undertake your carbon footprint assessment, there are some outstanding examples from our peers who are putting their green credentials into action.
You will be well advised to follow their example and add your eco-friendly performance to this year’s marketing themes as customers love nothing more than investing in a planted-friendly holiday.
For instance, The Quiet Site, a family’s holiday park on Ullswater, in the Lake District, has been celebrated at the recent COP26 climate change conference for its fight against global warming.
The park, in Pooley Bridge, was highly commended for its carbon neutral initiatives, and hailed as a Hero of Net Zero at the UN conference’s awards ceremony. The award is part of the Together For Our Planet campaign which recognises original and creative actions taken by small businesses to cut their own greenhouse gas emissions.
Park owner Daniel Holder and his family travelled to the COP26 awards ceremony to receive the judges’ commendation from Andrew Griffith MP.
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- DANIEL HOLDER (centre) and his daughter Daisy are congratulated at the awards ceremony by Andrew Griffith MP
CLIMATE HUB
More than 160 businesses entered the competition, making a commitment at the UK Business Climate Hub to achieve net zero by 2050, in line with the Government’s own climate commitment.
The Quiet Site was highly commended in the small business category for demonstrating a range of measures taken on their journey to net zero. These included prioritising nature by planting wildflower meadows and native trees, building accommodation that generates more energy than it uses, and opening a zero-waste shop.
“All businesses need to become Heroes of Net Zero if the world is going to have an impact on climate change,” said Daniel.
“Our journey has been fascinating, bringing technologies and techniques together in a unique energy mix to enable us to be carbon neutral.
“We started introducing sustainable practices twenty years ago, not because we wanted to save the world but because the initiatives we introduced were based on elegant engineering and made good business sense.
“Our focus is now to enable our customers to visit us without using private cars. Great holidays don’t have to cost the earth,” added Daniel.
The Quiet Site won over the competition judges by not only reducing its own energy consumption and environmental impact, but also encouraging customers to be more environmentally friendly.
DEVON-BASED COFTON HOLIDAYS has been recognised for its rewilding efforts.
QUEEN’S AWARD
The business provides quality holidays in the heart of the Lake District, offering pitches for tents, camping, motorhomes and a variety of glamping options. Earlier this year, the park became Britain’s first holiday park to win a Queen’s Award for sustainability which was presented by Her Majesty’s Lord- Lieutenant of Cumbria, Claire Hensmen.
Not to be outshone, multi award- winning South West holiday park Cofton Holidays has scooped the Environment and Sustainability award at the Western Morning News Business Awards 2021, recognising its sustained conservation efforts during the pandemic.
Set within 80 acres of glorious Devon countryside, Cofton Holidays has been a family-run holiday park for over 40 years. Guests return year after year to enjoy its beautiful and convenient location, extensive facilities and wide choice of accommodation types for all the family.
Visitors to Cofton can choose from a range of holiday homes, cottages and lodges in the heart of the main park, or cottages and apartments on the estuary-view Eastdon Estate. Cofton also offers a choice of pitches for touring caravan holidays including hard- standing and RV pitches.
Cofton Holidays offers a variety of accommodation to suit all guests including luxury lodges, dog-friendly cottages, Georgian-style apartments, modern holiday homes and camping and caravanning pitches. Facilities include an indoor pool heated by a biomass hub with a splash pad area and hydrotherapy loungers, a gym, restaurant, pub, steam room, sauna, fitness studio, soft play area, playground, sports wall, outdoor pools and much more.
Guests also have access to five coarse fishing lakes, miles of cycle paths and nature trails that take visitors through woodland to the golden sands of Dawlish Warren beach and nature reserve.
Sustainability and green initiatives have always been at the top of the agenda for Cofton Holidays, but its rewilding project really took of during the pandemic. With 20 years’ worth of David Bellamy Conservation Awards under their belts, the team saw lockdown as the perfect opportunity to give the park back to Mother Nature.
WINNING THE ENVIRONMENT and Sustainability Business Award has been a fabulous achievement for the Cofton team.
REWILDING PROJECT
Enhancing the park’s carefully considered planting, extensive woodland, wildlife-friendly hedges, wildflower zones and on-site bug and bee hotel, Cofton has planted additional hedges, shrubs and trees to strengthen wildlife corridors across the site, bringing nature to the doorstep of its visitors. Wild deer, buzzards, butterflies, hedgehogs and a range of fascinating migrating birds can all be spotted thanks to the biodiversity on site. As well as planting perennial flora to attract more insects and pollinators, new hedges provide enhanced nesting environments and food for a variety of birds and bats.
A further scheme that gave Cofton the edge over its competitors is its £60,000 investment in 16 electric car charging points. No other business in the South West has more electric vehicle charging points in one location.
Added to that, Cofton has invested in 144kw of solar power units for the park’s 12 luxury lodges, an electric vehicle for housekeeping, an outdoor lighting review, and the planting of 36 mature trees, making it one of the region’s leading sustainable holiday parks.
Helen Scott, Director at Cofton Holidays, is thrilled with Cofton’s success: “Winning the Environment and Sustainability Award at this year’s Western Morning News Business Awards is a fabulous achievement for us.
“It’s testament to the hard work the team have put into our sustainable initiatives this year, and strengthens our reputation as a holiday park that puts the environment at the forefront of all that we do.”
DEVON-BASED Cofton Holidays has been recognised for its rewilding efforts.
MOTHER NATURE
Helen continued: “Throughout lockdown, we concentrated all our efforts on making improvements to the park. It was the perfect opportunity to enhance the natural landscape whilst our guests were away, ready for them to marvel at Mother Nature’s handy work once they returned.
“Our sustainability efforts have been recognised by a number of award bodies now including iTravel, VisitEngland and VisitDevon, but this is by no means the end to our investment in green initiatives.
“We will continue to nurture our local environment, fulfilling our sustainability commitment with plans to review our outdoor lighting to reduce light pollution overspill, investing in more charging units for guests staying at the cottages and participating in the tree planting scheme which will celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
“As the recent climate change summit, COP26, has highlighted, it’s more important now than ever before that businesses take responsibility for operating in a sustainable way that will protect the environment for future generations. We take this seriously at Cofton and will continue to do all that we can to protect our beautiful corner of South Devon.”
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- SKELWITH – Henry Wild with the super- efficient solar panels on the roof of the park’s new carbon-neutral building
CARBON BUSTING
Skelwith Fold, an Ambleside holiday park, has cut the green ribbon on a new office complex which can generate all of its own energy – and still have some to spare.
The 3,000 square foot building adjoins the park’s existing offices and has been designed for total self- sufficiency, powering everything from air-conditioning to espresso machines.
Its secret is a bank of high-efficiency solar panels on the roof which will deliver up to 14 kWh per day, even under the gloomiest winter skies.
Skelwith Fold’s Henry Wild says the two-storey complex has taken the park a huge step closer to its goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2024:”We wanted to see if we could make the building entirely carbon neutral, and found this was possible by using the latest solar technology to generate electricity.
SUSTAINABILITY AND GREEN initiatives have always been at the top of the agenda for Cofton Holidays.
“Even in use seven days a week, the building will still produce surplus power to harness elsewhere on the park and further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. With the help of other solar panels elsewhere on the park, we are nearing our goal of all our buildings being self-sufficient in energy.
“I also hope that within two years we will create a state of carbon neutrality, and guests will be able to enjoy totally green holidays, even after their journey by car to the park is taken into account.”
The new building’s sustainable credentials are further enhanced by the use in its construction of recycled timber from larch trees grown in the park’s 130-acre grounds.
Skelwith Fold was forced to fell more than 200 larches last year after the Forestry Commission found them to be suffering from a fungal plant disease called Phytophthoras. Many of the areas left by the trees are now subject to an ambitious rewilding scheme.
COMPANY CONTACTS
Cofton Holidays
www.coftonholidays.co.uk
Skelwith Fold
www.skelwith.com
The Quiet Site
www.thequietsite.co.uk
centrepiece of the Northamptonshire company’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
with seating and entertainment areas as well as an energy efficient spa adding that final touch of luxury living.
Taking the plunge with a holiday park swimming pool can be as daunting as diving off the highest board. But be bold. Investing in on-site swimming offers many avenues for return on investment from initial visitor appeal to encouraging maximum ‘on park’ spend. But don’t just think swimming pool – rather, think water leisure and entertainment. After all, maximum payback will come from an aquatic feature that does not just offer lane swimming, but entertains all ages and abilities with excitement and splash appeal.
certainly an activity that many of visitors enjoy when on holiday, and therefore a swimming pool will influence bookings.
Ustigate's 31-station Dippy the Dinosaur inspired splashpad has met its original goal in making Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure in Norfolk, even more popular than before.
Rather than spend money on renovating the outdated outdoor pool, Freshwater Beach Holiday Park on the Jurassic Coast, decided to undertake a temporary upgrade to the filtration plant and line the pool with a commercial pool liner. They also decided to undertake a feasibility study, to develop a brand-new indoor pool facility. Cresta Leisure was invited to join the project design team, to develop and deliver a wet-leisure facility that would appeal to all ages. This co-operation has resulted in a very popular, purpose built pool complex that incorporates a splash zone, a paddling pool, a play pool, interactive tower with tippers, sprays and slides, a stand-alone four-lane slide with integral catch, a 20m deck level swimming pool and a spa. Following the success of the new indoor pool complex, Freshwater asked Cresta Leisure to come up with a scheme to improve the outdoor pool facilities. Because the filtration and circulation on the existing outdoor pool was below current standards, it was decided to break out the old pool and start afresh. All the groundworks were undertaken by Freshwater’s own team. In just five months, Cresta has built a brand new 25m x 12m outdoor pool with 12m2 paddling pool packed full of interactive water play features from Hippo Leisure. This new pool facility is fully compliant with European standards and is proving to be a smash hit with everyone.
Set just two miles from Newquay’s golden sand beaches, Hendra Holiday Park welcomes up to 3,800 guests a night during peak season. The family-owned business began in 1972 as a site offering camping and touring. Nowadays, Hendra’s 80- acre site is home to more than 300 luxury holiday homes and 600 pitches (from standard grass to super), ensuring it caters to a wide range of guests and budgets. Newquay has undergone a transformation in recent years, as Director Jon Hyatt explains: “The town has come a long way since the days of nightclubs, stag and hen dos. “It’s now a five-star family-friendly holiday destination and that makes the job of keeping our guests safe and secure that bit easier.” On-site security is handled by the Nitoe Group Ltd, a company launched more than a decade ago to support Newquay’s bustling nightlife. The experience brought with it some valuable lessons. “In bars and clubs, security needs to be managed carefully to avoid ruining the experience for everyone,” says managing director Tom Peel. “Holiday parks are very much the same. “Our primary goal is to make sure guests feel safe and secure – without compromising on their enjoyment. Being approachable plays a big part in this – especially in a holiday park where very young guests might find themselves needing help.”
Hendra and Nitoe work in close partnership to achieve this: from choosing the appropriate measures and policies to sharing recruitment events. “The Nitoe Group team is very much an extension of our own workforce,” says Hendra director Jon Hyatt. “Their approach is more front of house than door supervisor and that’s a credit to the training they’ve received.” Security personnel on site understand the importance of customer service and know the skills to deliver it. In addition, they are trained to deliver first aid and can take on basic maintenance tasks, too. Jon continues: “With such a wide-range of functions, it means that, especially in peak season, we can enjoy an ‘all-hands-on-deck approach to give our visitors the experience that will see them returning year after year. “In addition, our staff has been trained on how to work with security, including how to get help in the event of issues on site, such as disruptive guests.” In such a big operation, data security is a significant concern. To protect against cyber threats externally, Hendra’s booking systems are isolated from the WiFi, feature a firewall and use subnets for added protection. On top of this, systems undergo external testing quarterly to ensure PCI-DSS compliance. “At Hendra, we go out of our way to treat our guests with the utmost respect and that extends to their personal information,” comments Bookings and IT manager Scott Dickinson. “Any data we hold is fully encrypted and we’ve made the decision not to store credit card details. “Sensitive information like this is only needed in the event of a refund; this affects no more than 5 per cent of our bookings. In our experience, when refunds are necessary, guests are usually more than happy to share their details again if it will help resolve the issue.”
Alongside external scans and testing, Hendra’s IT team regularly run internal vulnerability scans. Scott adds: “With so much data to protect, we are always on the lookout for flaws in the system which could result in data breaches and issues for our customers.” This robust-but-friendly approach to security has paid dividends, according to Hendra Director Jon Hyatt. “We’ve been welcoming guests from across the UK and beyond for nearly 50 years’ now. “Indeed, many of our guests nowadays first came here as young children and, because of our customer-focused approach – across every aspect of the business – they continue returning each year, bringing children and grandchildren in tow.”
to be memorable for the right reasons. Our team works hard to instil a culture of respect throughout the operation.” This is echoed throughout the guest’s experience: from booking to departure. The site’s Code of Behaviour can be found within the park rules that are listed on the website, within booking information and in arrival packs. Once on site, guests are reminded to respect their neighbours on site, at all times of day, through carefully placed signage and posters. Day-to-day security issues are handled by the site’s park warden. “Guests need to be comfortable raising issues or asking questions, so approachability was something we were looking for in a park warden,” comments Roberta. During weekends and school holidays, Waldegraves employs an external security company to look after the doors on the clubhouse, as well as patrol in the evenings and overnight. However, there are drawbacks to this approach. “Previously, we have had issues where external staff weren’t able to work out the layout of the park quickly enough,” adds Roberta. “This meant we did have some complaints that areas of the site weren’t being policed efficiently. “Ideally, we would like to employ an in-house security team. But, because it could only ever be a seasonal position, it is almost impossible to find the right candidates. Alongside a range of security equipment, including CCTV, ANPR and automatic barriers to keep guests safe, the team at Waldegraves is also working to tackle antisocial behaviour.