Douglas Rugby Club says it may have to cancel around 20% of its TT campsite bookings after refurbishment work on its shower and toilet block was paused pending planning approval.
The planning application relates to works at the Clubhouse at Port-E-Chee, where the club has replaced long standing container based shower and toilet units with a single storey changing facility on the southeast side of the clubhouse. The submission is retrospective.
The club, which hosts around 12,000 bed nights over TT, equating to 7-10% of all visitors staying on the island, says the facilities are essential both for its financial survival and for wider TT visitor capacity.
Chairman John Gelling has submitted a full planning application and is seeking urgent guidance from planners on whether any temporary approval or phased consent could allow works to resume before TT.
Facility Upgrades
In a letter to planners, the club says severe winter weather destroyed the roof of its long‑standing container‑based shower and toilet units, with further structural and drainage defects uncovered during repairs.
With TT weeks away, the club opted to replace the block entirely, believing it to be a like‑for‑like upgrade of an established use, but halted work when instructed by the Planning Department.
The club says losing the facilities would force the cancellation of 2,000 to 3,000 bed nights, affecting 500 to 600 visitors, and jeopardising income that underpins its rugby operations.
Annual travel costs for its senior teams exceed £60,000, and the TT campsite remains its primary source of funding.
Gelling said the club is committed to working constructively with planners but stressed the situation is “extremely time critical”.
The full planning application can be found here.
