Our Green Goals and Inclusivity for 2025

At West Country Parks and Riverside Holiday Village we are committed to taking a proactive approach to help preserve the natural world for future generations to enjoy

The following Green Objectives provide an outline of how we will contribute to protecting and enhancing the environment over the next 12 months and beyond.

Last year (2024), we took huge strides to reduce our environmental impact;

• Our multiple solar panel installations saved a combined 88,508kg of carbon (the equivalent of planting 5,355 trees).
• We planted 10,000 native hedging plants and more than 60 trees.
• We created 'pollinator patches' at five of our holiday parks.
• We created or enhanced wildlife ponds at two of our holiday parks.
• To date, our waste management partner has achieved a target of 0% of waste to landfill on every one of our parks, with 76% (330,277kg) of materials recycled.
• We were named as finalists for the Sustainable Business Award at the prestigious Sedgemoor Business Excellence Awards, and Riverside Holiday Village was shortlisted for the Ethical, Responsible and Sustainable Tourism Award at the Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards and the Environmental and Sustainability Award at the Somerset Business Awards.

However, we know that we can always do more and we look forward to working with our colleagues, partners and visitors as we continue our ‘green’ journey.

1. Community

1.1 Community Engagement Projects

Riverside Holiday Village will register to join the growing community of more than 5,100 Warm Welcome Spaces across the UK. We will provide a warm, welcoming, safe space where individuals can connect and make new friends in the community. 

To help combat social isolation during the winter months, we will also develop a schedule of Warm Space Activities.

1.2 Community Environmental Projects

According to Keep Britain Tidy, more than 2 million pieces of litter are dropped in the UK every day at a cost of £1 billion to the taxpayer. 

Providing a clean and attractive destination for our visitors to enjoy not only benefits our business, it also positively impacts our local community and the wider environment. We will commit to organising local litter picking events around our holiday parks.

2. Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity

2.1 Access Guide

There are an estimated 16 million people in the UK with some form of disability, each with individual needs.

So, to help visitors with additional needs to make their own assessment of whether our park is suitable for their unique requirements, we will create and publish a comprehensive access guide for Riverside Holiday Village. 

2.2 Autism Awareness

According to the British Medical Association, it is estimated that around 700,000 people in the UK have a diagnosis of autism. To better understand the needs of these visitors, we will commit to a training programme for our team members, under the guidance of the National Autistic Society.

2.3 Sensory Play

Last year, we revealed plans for a new Meadow Walk and Sensory Play at Riverside Holiday Village. The groundwork for this project is now nearing completion and we aim to open this new facility in the summer.

Sensory play is a fantastic way of getting children to learn and have fun through playground equipment that stimulates their senses, and is particularly rewarding for autistic children. We hope that these additions will prove popular with visitors and have selected musical and tactile play items to aid with intellectual, social and emotional development, sensory stimulation, self-expression and memory skills. 

2.4 Accessibility Upgrades

To provide greater access for visitors with mobility issues, we will double the number of disabled parking bays at Riverside Holiday Village. We will also provide an ‘all terrain’ wheelchair for visitors to borrow during their stay.

3. Renewable Energy and Carbon Management

3.1 EV Charging

We have already seen fantastic results from our multi-park solar panel installation, both in terms of ‘green’ energy production and carbon saving.

However, we aim to take our on-site renewable energy even further. We are currently in talks with two major green energy providers, with plans to provide large-scale EV charging facilities at, at least one of our holiday parks. 

4. Biodiversity

4.1 Habitats and Refuges for Wildlife

The extensive areas of ‘natural’ habitats at several of our holiday parks provide the ideal opportunity for us to further support native biodiversity by creating wildlife refuges and habitats for native species.

West Country Parks have committed to creating the following habitats and refuges;

-     Pollinator patches, where bees, butterflies and other insects can get food and shelter

-     Additional wildlife ponds

-     Bird and bat boxes

-     Otter Holts

5. Waste

5.1 Single-Use Plastic

Single-use plastic continues to be one of the leading contributors of marine plastic pollution.

Last year, Riverside Holiday Village began our ‘plastic free’ journey, working with Plastic Free Communities to achieve the Plastic Free Champion Award. This year, we will build on this foundation by removing some of the worst offending single-use plastic items from our park. 

We look forward to updating you of our progress throughout the year. Find out more about our Green Policy.