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Here at Herding Hill Farm Camping & Glamping Site we take our environmental responsibility seriously since it increases our personal wellbeing. Our objective is to respect the landscape in which we are lucky enough to live and reduce our use of energy and water and our generation of waste. We are committed to helping our guests reduce the impact of their stay on the environment through the facilities and the information we provide. Our environmental policy also helps to shape our 5-star campsite status which we are very proud to have achieved.
We have an Environmental Policy Statement.
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We are corporate supporters of
the Northumberland Wildlife Trust.
Our site has been designed to
ensure that what we do compliments the beautiful Northumberland rural countryside
in which we are located. Our site is a peaceful, green sanctuary for people and
wildlife alike. We currently have a variety of birds on the site together with
several families of hedgehogs, wild ducks and bats. Our touring pitches are
separated by hedges to provide privacy and encourage wildlife.
We have a wildflower meadow dog walk providing wonderful views down the Haltwhistle valley.
Our site is surrounded on all
sides by farmland, used for the grazing of local sheep. We are a Dark Sky Friendly Park and take proactive steps to ensure that our actions and those of
our guests do not jeopardise the beautiful dark skies for which Northumberland
is so famous and the stargazing our guests come to us to enjoy. To minimise
light pollution and energy use, we use low level LED or solar lighting, with
motion sensors.
We have several ‘star gazing’
boxes for hire, which include binoculars, information books, blanket and hot
drinks to encourage engagement with the dark skies. We also have a telescope for use around the site for those occasions when we have a particularly good night sky..
We have dark skies activities and
books for children and adults for sale in the site shop. Check out our BLOG on the best spots for stargazing in Northumberland.
We are proposing to work in
partnership with The Sill National Landscape Discovery Centre, Northumberland National Park and local stargazing partners to start providing ‘star gazing’ events to
promote knowledge and interest in the Dark Skies.
Our taps have automatic shut offs
to minimise water usage and we use aerated shower heads and dual flush toilets.
We have increased the number of serviced pitches with water hook-up points to
help prevent water waste. Our well-insulated pods have black-out blinds for
increased efficiency and there are low energy air hand dryers in the Amenities
Block.
When planning new developments on
the site we build in green credentials and ensure our accommodation is energy
efficient for year-round use. The solar volaic thermal panels on the roof of
the Amenities Block help heat the hot water for use in our showers and wash
hand basins which reduces our gas consumption.
Our cleaning products are eco-friendly
where possible, we order what we can in bulk to minimise deliveries to site and
we use micro-fibre cloths and a fogger to ensure we are using as little
chemicals as possible when cleaning. We are stocking ‘whogivesacrap’ toilet
paper in our shop together with Eco-friendly washing up liquid and cassette
toilet liquid.
We have an electric golf buggy
for use around the site.
We are members of Haltwhistle Matters,
Haltwhistle Chamber of Trade and Heart of Hadrian’s Wall Tourism Association.
Our shop sources produce from
local suppliers including bread, milk, beer, meat and gin and we promote local
providers on our website. We encourage our guests to order food from local food
partners who offer a delivery service to site.
Our book and DVD exchange allow
guests to re-use and re-cycle where possible.
We are happy to offer free stays
at the site to support charities or local fundraising initiatives. We support a
local charity each year (this year it is the Great North Air Ambulance) with
collection boxes and 2 fundraising weekends per year where activities are
provided for children and adults for donations with match funding from
WCF. We also support fundraising
activities for our local community with collection boxes and prizes for
fundraising events.
We operate a low noise policy after 10.30pm and do not allow radios or electronic music on the site that can be heard outside of the accommodation.
We work with local company North
West Recycling who remove everything from site. The waste then undergoes
numerous processes to produce many products that can be used again in the
building and manufacturing industries and to ensure that as much as 95% of our rubbish
is recycled. This is higher than it would be in individual bins where guest
knowledge about what is recyclable may be low and is also convenient for them as
it prevents them from having to worry about what rubbish goes into which bin.
We re-use materials wherever
possible from around the site. Wood from the dismantled decks is being used to
re-build fences and as framework for the decking for the Wigwam cabins, to make
hedgehog houses, bug hotels and bird boxes. Shredded paper is used in the
rabbit and guinea pig houses.
We use biodegradable doggy bags
which are located with the dog bins on the site.
The waste from our animals is
used either by ourselves for compost on our flower beds or is collected by a local
farmer for use on his fields.
We allow our guests to bring one
car to site only which reduces their carbon footprint. There is a Hadrian’s Wall bus,
the AD122 which stops close to the site (in season) and allows guests to visit
the local attractions without needing to take their car. The local train
station is also within walking distance of the site. There are plenty of things
to do on foot from the site and we actively promote local businesses, walks and
attractions to encourage guests to stay local and reduce their fuel emissions. Check out our BLOG for some ideas around car-free camping at Herding Hill Farm.
We have extended our amenity block to provide additional indoor facilities for
backpackers and cyclists and to provide camper shelter.
We will be moving to
environmentally responsible disposable sanitary disposal, reducing our carbon
footprint for unnecessary visits to empty bins.
Our website contains
comprehensive information for our guests and our online booking system, in
conjunction with all information relevant to their stay, being emailed prior to
their arrival. This saves on paper by minimising the need for it to be printed
out. Our office paper is recycled. The majority of our marketing is digital
rather than leaflet based.
Our focus going forward is to
further reduce our plastic waste. We have installed refillable hand sanitiser
stations in all accommodation and replaced the plastic cups in our vending
machine with paper. We intend to switch to glass milk bottles from a local
dairy when we re-open in 2021. There are water points throughout the site for
guests to re-fill their own bottles. We will have water butts to collect
rainwater for watering our flower beds.
In 2022 we are reinstating our wildlife pond
for guests to enjoy. We hope to encourage more birds and insects by ensuring this
habitat remains a rich source of food even in dry weather. As part of our participation in the David Bellamy Pledge for Nature Conservation Scheme, we will increase the
numbers of bird feeders and bat boxes located around the site and plant
additional flowers and shrubs which are native to our local environment to
encourage butterflies, bees and other wildlife. The new Castle Pod development at the
bottom of the site will incorporate the existing pond area with planting of
local native species and ongoing maintenance to encourage, wildflowers, shrubs
and wildlife. We are proposing running ‘nature/environment’ sessions with the
children during the school holidays.
We are considering the
installation of an electric charging point for vehicles and secure bike storage
and have a rotating program to replace our electrical equipment such as fridges
and washing machine with super-efficient appliances.
Our intention is to apply for a
David Bellamy Conservation Award and a Green Tourism Award when these
initiatives are completed.
