East Devon District Council's (EDDC) Countryside Team maintain 10 separate nature reserves, providing the 'Wild East Devon' experience for residents and visitors alike. The reserves are located between Axminster and Exmouth with the largest, ‘Seaton Wetlands’, covering nearly 4km of level trails and boardwalks through beautiful marshland and reed beds alongside the river Axe.
This unique collection of natural habitats is managed by EDDC’s Countryside Team with the help of dedicated volunteers. They have the continual task of balancing the needs of the natural environment whilst ensuring safe access together with an enjoyable and informative experience for visitors.
Seaton Wetlands alone, a prime example of a freshwater grazing marsh, attracts 65k visitors each year and is home to dragonflies, swans, otters, pond life and a multitude of bird species.
To assist their important work, EDDC’s Countryside Team had been looking for a robust and flexible general-purpose vehicle capable of carrying personnel, tools and materials around the various sites. A further requirement was to ensure the chosen vehicle would help reduce the department’s carbon footprint through sustainable electric power – a direction already embraced through using battery powered tools and machinery.
Considerable research led the team to Eco Charger, whose extensive range of ‘all electric’ quad bikes, proven track record coupled with their Southwest location seemed an ideal company to explore the team’s requirements in depth.
James Chubb, Countryside Team Manager comments,
"We had a good idea of our outline requirements for an all-terrain, all purpose vehicle with sustainability and environmentally sensitivity being key drivers.
Eco Charger were ideally placed to match our needs and to offer a vehicle that ticked all of our boxes and we have been both delighted and impressed by our choice of the Pioneer model.
The Pioneer has excelled in many ways:
To us the PIONEER is now a vital member of the Countryside Team!"