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Local Lodges Win David Bellamy Award (17 Sept 2009)
A development of ‘eco’ holiday lodges on the outskirts of Richmond has been given the official ‘golden’ thumbs up from one of the UK’s leading environmentalists.
Brompton Lakes, which opened its doors to guests at the end of last year, has been awarded a Gold David Bellamy Conservation Award – an initiative designed to highlight holiday developments that make a special effort to protect and enhance the natural world.
"Brompton Lakes has created a wildlife wonderland which is bursting with bio-diversity. I take my hat off to them for their fantastic achievements." said Professor Bellamy on making the award.
As well as more familiar measures such as establishing wildlife habitats and planting indigenous trees, the award scheme looks at virtually every aspect of site management from how water is used and conserved to the communication of conservation policies to visitors.
Any holiday development to gain an award – ranked from bronze to gold – is subject to rigorous assessment, including an independent site visit, visitor feedback and the opinions of local conservation groups.
Roy Stephenson, Director of Brompton Lakes said: "This accolade reflects the huge amount of work that has been put into the conservation and development of Brompton Lake’s stunning natural environment.
"When we took over the site, it was largely derelict and very overgrown. We hope we have now created a place that is not only attractive to guests but also a viable habitat for a wide range of wildlife," he added.
To date, large numbers of indigenous trees, shrubs and wild flowers have been planted across the 26-acre site as part of an ongoing land management programme. The former fishing lakes have also been re-stocked and managed as a wildlife habitat.
The David Bellamy Conservation Award follows close on the heels of other environmental accolades for the holiday development. Brompton Lakes has recently received a silver medal at the Green Apple Awards for the Built Environment and Architectural Heritage 2009 and was a finalist in this year’s Yorkshire Post Environment Awards.
Designed by SDS Design – a company specialising in eco-friendly construction – the lodges themselves offer the latest in green building techniques and are built entirely out of wood, glass and other sustainable products. Green features include living plant roofs, large solar gain glass panels and – one of the first of its kind in the UK – an innovative geo-thermal heating system which draws energy from the lakes.
Green living is also an integral part of the Brompton Lakes philosophy. As well as having eco-friendly appliances, some of the equipment and furnishings in the lodges are from sustainable sources; the state-of-the-art wood burning stoves burn the same logs and ashes several times over – giving many extra hours of heat – and dual flush toilets have been installed to save water. Natural springs provide all the water for the lodges and sewerage is treated on site to a standard whereby the water can be put back into the river.
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