Glastonbury Festival

Key Skills: Pre-application Advice

Category: Rural Diversification

Major Development

Festival - Economic Development

Phosphates / Nutrient Neutrality

Highway Safety

LPA: Mendip District Council

The Project

In Rachel’s role as Head of Planning at Mendip District Council she was involved with, and oversaw, the provision of pre-application advice to Glastonbury Festival during the development of the planning application for permanent permission for the Festival which was submitted in December 2022. This involved liaison with Festival management, their Agent and highways consultant as well as Planning Officers and Highways Officers from within both Mendip District Council and Somerset Council. Significant discussions were also held following the receipt of the Natural England letter in August 2020 requiring all development within the water catchment area of the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar Site to be phosphate neutral, however this was eventually overcome following confirmation that the site was not hydrologically linked to the Ramsar Site and nor were the waste water treatment works used by the Festival.

Although Rachel had left Mendip District Council by then, a permanent planning permission for Glastonbury Festival was granted in April 2023.