A glamping centre could be created at Groudle, if plans are approved.

The application (19/00830/B) by Anchard Leisure is for 20 timber pods for accommodation. One would act as a welcome office and there would be parking for up to 22 vehicles.

Anchard Leisure intends to build the site on land above Groudle Glen Railway on the north side of the glen, with access from Ballamenagh Road.

The pods, which would be six metres by four metres inside a 10 square metre plot, would be built away from the car park and accessed via a wooden walkway, making them accessible to disabled visitors.

Each pod would be able to house four or five people and come with a kitchenette and toilet facilities and each grouping of pods would include a communal area for barbecues and seating.

Anchard Leisure said in its application that the pods would be built ’in the shadow’ of mature trees and that it intends to plant other trees on the boundary along with low level planting that would help the area blend in to the surrounding green fields.

The plans show the site would be developed in two phases, with pods one to 11 grouped as phase one with the rest listed as phase two.

In its application, the company said it ’is keen to invest in tourism’ in the island.

It added: ’It is hoped that this will be the start of mutually beneficial partnership between the developer and the Department for Enterprise.’

Anchard Leisure would be working with Wigwam Holidays, a franchise business in the UK. In the application it states the company ’would provide the necessary expertise with regard to capital investment and running costs, as well as site management and ensuring the long term viability of the project’.

Wigwam Holidays would also be responsible for marketing of the site and taking bookings which would ’target a wider market in the UK and further abroad’.

Anchard Leisure said it chose the site because Groudle has ’historically been a popular tourist destination’ and continues to be popular with the railway, cottages, Manx Electric Railway and is just off the Raad Ny Foillan coastal footpath.

The company believes its location would make it an ’excellent position to be a stopping off point for walkers’.

Walkers

The site is served by water, however the applicant intends to check if this would be sufficient to provide for the needs of the glamping site.

But it will need electric and phone lines installed, both of which it intends to do underground.

And the site would need its own sewage treatment plant. It has no plans to install a system for rainwater other than buildings designed to let it run to the ground.

Anchard Leisure has also committed to a bat survey being carried out to provide details of any disruption on the wildlife in the area.