Seeking energy efficiency on the Jurassic Coast

Welcoming over 40,000 guests each year to its holiday parks along the stunning Jurassic Coast, West Dorset Leisure Holidays is a family-owned business operating six holiday parks across Dorset. Martin Cox, owner and managing director of West Dorset Leisure Holidays, provides an insight on the steps it is taking to manage energy efficiency across the business and some of the challenges it faces.

swimming pool (which is heated by electricity), bar and restaurant, shop, offices and the many electrical pumps and devices which serve the infrastructure of a park accommodating around 900 visitors.

Martin said: “Over the last 35 years, we have expanded the family business and, at the same time, increased the number of employees from 15 to more than 90 during the peak times.”

“We have faced many challenges including damage from coastal storms, two significant economic recessions, the restrictions of foot and mouth and, of course, the unprecedented impact of Covid-19.

Martin continued: “In 2021, we were refused planning permission for a ground mounted PV system on adjoining land due to the proposal being visually unacceptable on the heritage coastline. With the increase in the cost of electricity, adding to our desire to be ‘net zero’, we are applying again with a comprehensive landscape assessment and planting scheme, and we hope we can persuade Dorset Council and the community that we can find the balance between landscape protection and energy generation. In many respects it is unfair to businesses who wish to invest and be more self-efficient and achieve net zero in sensitive landscape locations.

Martin said: “We try to apply the same policies across all our parks, but the greatest challenge for energy efficiency is Highlands End Holiday Park, near Bridport.”

This award-winning, 5-star park, features lodges and caravan holiday homes for hire as well as privately owned caravan holiday homes and pitches for touring caravans and camping. It includes facilities such as an indoor

“Despite these issues, we have continuously sought to improve and achieve our sustainability objectives and targets, introducing new processes and technology. The measures we have taken with low energy lighting and equipment, air source heat pumps, time switches, effective use of heating and appliances, and levels of insulation, particularly within new buildings, have significantly reduced our consumption.”

In 2020, West Dorset Leisure Holidays decided to invest in more generation. This included the enhancement of the PV panels on the roof of the swimming pool (which very conveniently faces south), generating over 35 Mwh in 2022.

“A three-year electricity contract expired at the end of September 2022, and we now have the challenge of a £350k increase in our electricity costs this financial year. It is difficult to review prices which had to be set last year against the uncertainty of the visitor economy with the cost-of-living crisis and the impact of staff shortages since Brexit.

“We are now taking our efficiency efforts to a new level, looking at half-hourly readings to find out where we can apply further measures to reduce consumption and, at the same time, determine if some activities and services are actually viable, taking into the account the energy costs. It makes for interesting times.” www.wdlh.co.uk