Kubota delivers five-star contribution for the award-winning team at Trevornick Holiday Park Who were recently awarded the title of ‘Holiday Park of the Year’ at the prestigious AA Caravan and Camping Awards – an accolade they attribute to a momentous ‘team effort’ across the site.
Part of that team, supporting both the maintenance and grounds operations, is a fleet of equipment from Kubota which the venue has praised for its versatility, productivity and robust reliability. Located in Newquay and boasting picturesque views over Holywell Bay and the iconic Gull Rocks, it’s been an eventful few months for the site.
Following the elation of recognition by The AA, the site fell victim to freak weather at the end of January 2025 with a mini-tornado causing extensive damage to a number of their static caravans. Thankfully, no-one was injured and the recovery is well underway, led by General Manager Adrian Tribe and Head Gardener Ross Bramhall.
Having initially worked in the hospitality side of the park, Ross made the switch to the grounds team and adopted the head role 12 years ago. “One of the first things I did was get a demonstration of some new cut and collect mowers, including the G-Series from Kubota. The superior cutting deck, build quality and ease of use of the G261 won me over straight away” he explains.
“Mowing is the primary maintenance task we undertake so we quickly added a second Kubota G261 to the fleet and these two now cut every blade of grass on our site.” “These mowers do such a good job on grass of all lengths and wet grass as well, when we are forced to cut in less-than-ideal conditions on changeover days.
THE KUBOTA G261 MOWERS In action — keeping Trevornick’s parkland picture- perfect, whatever the weather.
They’re an ideal size and have a great turning circle which we need for manoeuvring and mowing between the vans.” Ross continues, “Both of our G261’s are the low dump configuration, lifting and collecting the clippings without clogging for quick and easy disposal which helps to limit grass being walked into tents or toilet blocks and creating that picture-postcard finish.”
Alongside the two Kubota G261’s, is a B1241 compact tractor complete with tipping trailer. “This is an absolute workhorse and punches well above its weight! This tractor is used for everything - moving machinery, transporting soil and materials and collecting rubbish, hedge trimmings, branches… the list goes on.
It is incredibly reliable, and the tipping trailer speeds up every job which is incredibly valuable when there’s only two of us on the grounds team” he adds. “The most recent purchase was two new Kubota RTV 520’s, joining two larger RTV 900’s we were already using. These are the go-to for us and the maintenance team anytime we need to get people or materials around the site and, in my mind, can’t be beaten for the power and performance they give us.”
Another important part of the ‘team’ effort has been the parks relationship with local dealer Vincents, in particular, Jon Day. “Jon and his colleagues have always given us top support and advice, finding the right equipment to meet our needs and providing help with servicing and parts on the very rare occasion we’ve needed something.”
Ross concludes, “Trevornick, the company and its owners have always understood the importance of investing to support its staff and give our customers the best possible experience. To do that, we need the right machinery to achieve the five-star standards we’re looking for and with Kubota, we have the right equipment to deliver that.”
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Six parks strong, Away Resorts conducted a study last year that revealed 76% of the British public believe holiday operators need to do more to conserve wildlife in and around their locations. Since then, Away Resorts has taken measures to become more environmentally aware including installing electric car charging points at Sandy Balls, its New Forest Holiday Park, moving all barbed wire fencing and enforcing speed limits to protect wildlife that wanders into their park. The Away Resorts team has also created an on-line resource bank with information about the wildlife found near their 100-year-old holiday resort. The resource allows visitors to learn more about the National Park’s wildlife, including rare birds, mammals, endangered insects and unique plants. Readers can discover facts about the creatures and foliage, where in the New Forest they can be seen and tips on how the public can ensure the conservation of all that call the National Park their home.
This sustainable re-use of materials can be seen throughout the business as they continue to increase their efforts in becoming even more environmentally friendly. The park has joined the Final Straw campaign, replacing plastic straws in the three onsite bars with paper alternatives. Staff also organise their own beach cleans on Holywell Bay to ensure the location and its wildlife remain unharmed by plastic waste, whilst also encouraging guests to adopt this mindset and asking them to leave the beach as they find it. “We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world and it is our responsibility to ensure it remains this way,” said Trevornick’s Manager Adrian Tribe. “We have all benefitted from the increase in tourism as a result of hit TV shows like BBC’s Poldark much of which was filmed at Holywell Bay and we feel we have a duty to highlight the dangers of single use plastic and its effect on our beautiful coastline. “This year we have introduced initiatives such as the ‘Drop an Swap’ station where guests can leave their beach toys and bodyboards to reduce this type of waste, as well as joining the ‘Re-Fill’ app which highlights locations nearby where people can fill up their water bottles,” he added. Other measures the park are taking to reduce their single use plastic waste and improve their recycling capabilities includes easy access to recycling points throughout the campsite for camping and touring guests and trialling recycling waste such as crisp packets and bottle tops which aren’t widely recycled and can be made into things such as children’s play parks.
When project planning, it always makes sense to build in green credentials to schemes, not just for the cost-effectiveness but also for its marketing appeal. Olicana Cottages in Ilkley commissioned the construction of five, two bedroom timber built lodges on the banks of the River Wharfe. Boasting saunas and hot tubs the luxury lodges that take full advantage of the peaceful riverside setting, they had sustainability very much on their minds. Perhaps most interesting is how the lodges and new café bar are heated – by a central ground source heat pump, giving the lodges and café independent control of heating and hot water. With this type of sustainable heating system the holiday park owners will receive Renewable Heat Incentive payments which have been calculated to be in excess of £103,000 over 20 years – the period of return for commercial installations. Golden Leas in Sheerness, Kent, has 350 privately-owned caravan holiday homes and lodges, and a newly-opened clubhouse will provide the focus for a raft of social activities and entertainment. Sustainability was an important part of the park’s business philosophy, and the clubhouse has solar panels on its roof to generate heat for the building. Golden Leas also has plans to convert the heating of its 20-metre outdoor swimming pool to use green energy and reduce even further its carbon footprint. There are plans as well to make the park even more welcoming to wildlife with the creation of new habitat areas, and the planting of nectar-rich flowers for foraging by honey bees and butterflies.
environmentally-conscious, self-catering holiday resort, Great Field Farm, near Canterbury. The 90 m2 building is equipped with environmentally-friendly features such as a green roof, a heat exchange system with infrared underfloor heating, and smart sensors to regulate pollen, CO2 levels, ventilation, heating and lighting. Marketed as the Bumble Barn, the accommodation offers a unique opportunity to expand the environmentally-conscious business, allowing the couple to cater to the demand for larger families and groups. Lewana Castle said: “We pride our business on offering guests the space and freedom of the outdoors, but with the warmth and comfort of a house, and the new ARC building offers exactly that. “Our guests will love the new experience of living in the round of the curved building, and I think they’ll be interested in the ARC’s sustainable features and clever technology.” The family owners of a Lake District holiday park are also helping visitors to enjoy even greener stays in Cumbria following a new series of environmental initiatives. Park Foot Caravan and Camping Park, on the shores of Ullswater near Penrith, says its latest steps will help further ensure that guests can enjoy their holidays with a clear conscience. Measures taken include the construction from local stone of a new amenity building for campers which is kept warm with underfloor heating from the park’s biomass boiler. Park Foot has also increased its reliance on green energy with new solar panels on its recycling centre which will feed excess electricity into the national grid. A super-efficient new heating system has additionally been installed to minimise energy usage. Park Foot, which employs around 80 locally-recruited staff in high season, has also decided from this year to ban single-use plastics in its clubhouse.
A significant supplier in the greener credentials of many holiday parks is NBB Recycled Furniture. In 2018 alone, the UK-based team saved 27.4million plastic bottles from entering landfill sites. This is set to drastically rise in 2019 and 2020 as the desire for recycled furniture soars. Tables, picnic-sets and benches accounted for over 50% of the saved bottles with organisations such as holiday parks, hotels and schools opting for recycled plastic for its safety, maintenance-free and eco properties. NBB Business Manager, Sharon Jenkins comments: “We have seen a significant rise in sales of recycled plastic products over the last five years. Consumers are now very aware of the environmental impact of plastic waste and would rather opt for a hardwearing, low maintenance option that largely contributes to the reduction of plastic pollution.”