It’s all hush-hush as Cumbria holiday park ditches diesel
Holiday guests and wildlife residents at a Cumbria holiday park are resting easily now that its family owners have driven down noise and pollution by going all-electric.
Park Cliffe near Windermere, winner of the David Bellamy Conservation Award, has parked up its Land Rover in favour of the latest green transport technology.
Until recently, Susan and Derek Dickson and their staff relied on diesel to get around the 25-acre park, but had worries about this on a number of fronts:
“We did a lot of short, stop-start journeys in the Land Rover, but it proved both inefficient and uneconomical,” said Susan.
“There were also concerns about the effect of the noise and diesel emissions on our wildlife which includes badgers, buzzards and roe deer.
“Our son suggested we look into electric vehicles as an alternative – but we didn’t think that an EV would be able to cope with the terrain as the site is very hilly.
“The demonstration proved us completely wrong, and everyone agrees that our new electric truck is the perfect solution,” said Susan.
The couple opted for an Alke ATX 210E utility truck from ePower Trucks, one of the UK’s leading independent suppliers of EVs.
It’s used by Park Cliffe in a wide range of applications on the estate, from towing trailer-loads of 47 litre gas cylinders to grounds maintenance and site cleaning.
Susan reports that the truck can do everything that the Land Rover did, and that employees really like it, especially the improved visibility from the cab.
The ATX 210E is a road-legal electric truck that is equally comfortable working off-road, and the powerful electric motor offers a maximum towing capacity of 2,000kg.
“The truck is much quieter than the Land Rover, so it minimises impact on the wildlife and also doesn’t disturb our guests,” said Susan.
“However, it isn’t completely silent, so people can still hear it coming, which is an important safety element on a busy site like ours.”
Park Cliffe boasts a raft of national and regional accolades, and was last year named as the Lake District’s top holiday park in the annual Cumbria Tourism Awards.
From its stunning lakeside setting, the park provides luxury holiday homes to rent and buy, glamping pod accommodation, and pitches for touring caravans, motorhomes and tents.
There is more information about the park on its website at www.parkcliffe.co.uk
