We pride ourselves on protecting and enhancing the environment of Ransom Wood to the benefit of businesses, restaurant customers and walkers. Here we take an overall look at the work that Ransom Wood have been doing for the environment.
Set in over 70 hectares of natural woodland, Ransom Wood Park offers an enviable working environment, and as a family business with a long involvement in countryside conservation, Ransomwood Estates intends to keep this environment in the peak of health. To help manage both the natural environment we work in and also the effects of our presence in the leafy setting it provides, we instigated an environmental management system in 2008 which helps monitor and control the impacts we have on the surrounding environment.
Some of these impacts are easy to spot: the site is generally litter free, and is carefully maintained in its authentic natural state rather than having a proliferation of non-native flower beds and huge areas laid to lawn.
When the site was acquired, much of it had been set as coniferous plantation, and this is now being put back to the native woodland stock, with a continuous planting programme of ancient woodland species such as oak, ash and rowan replacing the various ageing spruces and pines and some of the dying ornamental silver birches. Woodland management partnerships with local trusts ensure arboreal work is carried out professionally in accordance with our master plan.
Other aspects of our environmental efforts are not as noticeable to the casual observer.
Energy saving strategies are under constant review to reduce the park’s carbon footprint. Waste is also targeted, and new initiatives will see the overall park waste output drop even lower over the next few years.
Our offices are a combination of older buildings and new modern work-spaces. The existing buildings are being gradually upgraded to improve their environmental performance credentials, while new buildings incorporate the latest building designs and technologies and achieve excellent efficiency ratings from the outset.
And at a time when green space is continually under threat from over enthusiastic development, our “prime directive” pledges to limit the development of the park to no more than 30% of the available space, keeping it forever green for our employees, clients and visitors to enjoy. We are also heavily committed to prevent external developments from encroaching on our natural asset.
One of our management objectives is to increase the park users’ awareness and involvement in the environment at Ransom Wood, and our revised Parklife newsletter is the first of our initiatives to spread our message to a wider audience.
Over the next few issues we shall share some of our successes and maybe inspire you to join us on this journey to keep Ransom Wood “in business with nature”.
Published: 23rd October 2024
We’ve recently helped to rescue a little hedgehog who was in need of a bit of TLC over the Winter.
Published: 23rd May 2019
There is a special connection at Ransom Wood to Night Jars – learn a bit more about this in our Nightjar article.
Published: 14th January 2013
Say hello to our old man of the woods. Isn’t he great! He was carved for us by Mark Butler who has won several prizes for his work.