Table of Contents
Abstract
The Gleneagles hotel estate covers 341 hectares set in the heart of the beautiful Perthshire countryside. Its unique mixture of sport and relaxation makes it one of the UK's leading hotels. With the Automobile Association's five red stars already achieved, Gleneagles' vision is to become the most desirable resort hotel in the world. As well as the hotel, there are three 18-hole championship golf courses, the King’s, Queen’s and Monarch’s. There is also a 9-hole ‘wee course’, a pitch and putt course and golf academy. Around the estate there are the Gleneagles equestrian centre, Jackie Stewart shooting and fishing school, off-road driving, falconry school, 'the club', garden shop and numerous independent retailers. Natural processes created the Gleneagles landscape with a wide range of habitats that are now home to a myriad of species, including golfers! The golfers and guests expect to see a beautifully conserved and presented environment, which exceeds their expectations.
Acknowledgement and concern for the environment at Gleneagles began in earnest in 1985 when the Nature Conservancy Council, now Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), identified 19 Sites of Scientific Interest (SSI) and one Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Like the older links courses, Gleneagles is built on sand and gravel but, instead of being the product of wave and wind action, the sand and gravel deposits of the Gleneagles area were laid down by the meltwaters of the last ice sheet.
Immense quantities of sand and gravel were brought to the site by large meltwater rivers some 15,000 years ago. They were deposited in tunnels in the ice and on top of and against large blocks of glacier ice. When the ice melted, long sinuous ridges of sand and gravel (eskers), flat top mounds (kames) and enclosed hollows (kettles) were left on the south-facing slope of the Muir of Ochil.
The Gleneagles approach to the environment is captured by the words of James Hutton, the founder of modern geology, when he said, "the science of man is intended to cooperate with the means employed by nature". This co-operation is achieved through a systematic and sympathetic approach to environmental planning and improvement.
The environmental management process began in the mid 1990's with a review and collection of historical information relating to Gleneagles and the environment, including relevant social and economic information.
The next step involved team leaders at Gleneagles in the environmental management process. An environmental co-ordinator produced checklists of impacts and effects and discussed them with the team leaders. This led to a shared view on the important environmental aspects.
Some valuable insights were obtained. One in particular was the need for everyone to have a much greater understanding of the landscape and its long history. Staff became much more aware and sensitive to the geological origins and biological assets of the site.
Environmental aspects were then prioritised using the Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme publication ‘EMS in Foundries'. This may seem a strange choice but the principles and concepts were simple and effective, and directly applicable in the Gleneagles context.
The approach allowed for both normal and abnormal operating conditions - an important factor for hotels and golf courses where demand can vary significantly due to occupancy fluctuations, golf tournaments, events etc.
Each environmental aspect, under both normal and abnormal operating conditions was graded against four criteria, namely: legislation, environmental impact, stakeholders' interest and quantity of energy and material flows.
A draft register of legislation was complied by using books, manuals and internet sources and it was then checked by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Perth and Kinross Council. It seemed prudent to obtain a letter from a competent regulatory body confirming that the register of legislation was complete and correct.
Measurements of solid waste, water supply, effluent discharge and energy consumption were available. These were key inputs to the environmental management process for decision making and planning. Numbers are fundamental in determining progress, ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’.
The results of this exercise were explained to the team leaders who then signed them off. All together some 40 environmental aspects were identified and nine of these were graded as significant. These nine fitted into four categories: effluents; waste; integrated pest management and fuel storage. Improvement programmes with targets and funding were then developed for each category.
Energy and materials are two key elements of environmental management and Gleneagles has active energy management and waste minimisation programmes around the estate. They started from humble beginnings but have developed over the years. Waste recycling had reached 27% of the total waste generated on the site by 1997/98 and composting trials were undertaken to try and minimize the organic waste, which made up 50% of the waste stream.
Alongside this work, field studies on the golf courses were used to determine conservation aims and objectives. A five-year environmental management plan (1998–2002) covers all three 18 hole golf courses and contains information on:
landscape: type, shape and form;
habitats: size and structure;
flora: species and diversity;
fauna: species and diversity;
work schedules: practical guidance on conservation works;
contacts: partnership bodies; and
monitoring: on-going through photography, field studies and mapping.
The plan was designed to be accessible to the golf maintenance staff so they had information to help them make informed judgments on what was the best way to conserve the golf courses.
Lengthy written procedures were avoided. This was an important consideration for a rapidly changing environment such as Gleneagles. The discussion of priorities with relevant members of staff and the ability, due to the size of the estate, to have a ‘hands on’ approach gave the environment programme the flexibility Gleneagles desired.
The Gleneagles environmental programme was underpinned by good communications. The communications included successes as well as failures. This was essential in building trust, understanding and fostering involvement.