Garff Commissioners have objected to plans to create glamping - glamorous camping - facilities at Groudle Glen.

Anchard Leisure has applied to government planners (19/00830/B) to build 20 timber cabins in a field by Ballamenagh Road, with 22 on-site parking spaces, as part of a £750,000 project.

Despite promises from the developers they’d be ’integrated into the landscape’, commissioners were concerned about the visual impact of the units.

They also felt there ’wasn’t adequate justification’ to set aside the relevant planning policies, as the land is currently zoned for agriculture, not tourist use.

Members saw some positives to the application, but felt the applicant had chosen ’the wrong site’ - the decision to object was not unanimous though.

Tourism

Ten comments have been submitted so far about the application by residents and interest groups.

Most have objected to the plans over concerns about access, the effect on views, and noise pollution.

A comment by the Groudle Glen Railway has warned planners if the application is approved, further development is likely.

It said: ’The department should be under no illusions that the grant of this application and support of this scheme, if successful, would lead to further applications for more permanent structures of the Groudle Glen area, which the railway would strongly object to.

’The department should have an eye on this bigger picture at an early stage to ensure they provide consistent and coherent decision-making throughout the process.’

The charity, which hasn’t objected, also highlights a number of issues over how the proposed facilities would work in conjunction with the railway. 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.

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

It would work with Wigwam Holidays, a franchise business in the UK, which 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 had chosen 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.