Tranquil Parks get on the road to ‘Net Zero’

EV charging

As you may know, the sale and purchase of NEW petrol and diesel cars, as well as hybrid vehicles, will be banned across the UK from 2035. Electric cars have come a long way in recent years with a number of models capable of towing caravans for long distances. We are also seeing more electric vehicle (EV) motorhomes, with some major new vehicle launches last year, as well as campervan conversions of electric vans.

While some aspects of EVs seem way behind target, particularly where commercial vehicles are concerned, the good news is that the number of public charging points is now expanding fast with around 65,000 charging points in the UK (as of July 2024).

Surrounded by the Mendip Hills AONB and a few minutes walk from the Chew Valley Lake nature reserve, you would expect the Bath Chew Valley Caravan Park team to be enthusiastic about conservation and clean energy. The solar panel arrays on the facilities building can deliver up to 25% of the park’s power requirement through the summer months.

Eye Kettleby Lakes is constantly reviewing its working environment to find ways to reduce its carbon footprint. Its wind turbine was built in 2013 and the electricity it generates is piped down to the caravan park. It stands by what is now the Southern Meadows dog enclosure and generates up to 145,000 KW per year.

The Farm building has been lined with 300 solar panels. This electricity gets used to heat up a huge tank which supplies hot water to the hot tubs and light up the clubhouse.

Most people are now familiar with electric garden tools powered by rechargeable batteries rather than petrol or other fuel. Some parks are using solar power to charge them. For our guests, these electric mowers, strimmers, leaf blowers and chainsaws have the added advantage of being much quieter!

Where meters have been introduced, a certain amount of electricity is included in the pitch fees, so you may not need to purchase extra electricity. You can expect a refund for prepaid electricity that you do not use.

You will now find electric meters on pitches at several parks and we have included links to informative pages on their websites about how metering works.

Parks with metered electric: South Wales Touring Park; Groobys Pit; Three Castles Caravan Park; Wolds View Touring Park; Red Kite Touring Park – see the park’s useful info; York Caravan Park (shown on the left) – see How do campsite smart meters work?; Daisy Bank Caravan Park in Powys, Wales (shown on the right) – see FAQs on meters; and Overbrook Caravan Park by the North York Moors – see How does an electric meter work?

Saving water

Back of Beyond Touring Camping & Glamping Park in Dorset is one of the parks that collect rainwater. This park tries to harvest as much rainwater as possible to water the planters and hedgerows.

Blue Rose Country Park in East Yorkshire has solar powered self watering plant troughs around the park. The troughs save water by automatically recycling it and reducing the need for topping up.

Push button showers are certainly not new, but they have become more necessary as we become more aware of the need to use resources sparingly.