Yorkshire self catering cottages, England
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
Wildlife - we have a lot of wildlife on the farm and plantings of trees have helped to improve the habitat for them, we also leave plenty of nesting boxes out for the many birds. Our hedges are cut infrequently to provide a better habitat for wildlife.
Waste - we recycle all we can and ask that our guests help us in this goal by making full use of our on site recycling centre.
Energy - We use renewables where possible to heat and provide our hot water. We have geo thermal ground source heat pumps supplimented by solar thermal. In the cottages we use low energy light sources to reduce consumption and all the cottages are highly insulated to minimise our use of energy.
Water - we use water saving technology to minimise water use but are careful not to impact upon the comfort of our guests. We have a water bore to provide water to the farm.
In the office we try to deal with all communication with our guests in a paperfree manner so doing our bit for the environment. All booking confirmations and directions etc are sent our by email and we ask that our guests only print what they need. We can send paper copies if a guest prefers.
Community
We employ local people and buy from local suppliers where possible.
In developing these cottages we have saved beautiful old buildings from decay - it was not possible for these buildings to be converted into private residential homes. the local council would not permit this and before we started work most of the buildings were starting to fall down, the roof was in on one cottage and walls starting to crumble. It was such a shame to see these lovely buildings going to waste so we set about to restore them and give them a role in the modern world.
The development was undertaken using local labour - all the people who worked on the project either ran or worked for a local small business so the development helped the local economy and provided employment for many people.
Now as well as employing local cleaners and gardeners the cottages help the local economy by bring people to the village - we actively promote local shops, pubs and restaurants. All these local businesses benefit by the influx of people attracted to the cottages. We do not just attract visitors in the summer months but all year round giving these local businesses a boost in trade in the quieter off season months as well.
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