OPINION is split over whether a barn used as part of a ‘glamping’ site at the Glastonbury Festival should be allowed to stay – with one parish council calling for it to be “removed completely through enforcement action immediately”.
A planning application was submitted to Somerset Council in July on behalf of Ty Cook, seeking retrospective permission for a barn structure with an area of around 1,250sqm.
Festibell is billed as a luxury off-site campsite – not linked to the festival itself – offering pre-erected bell tents, catering, showers and more, with pitches sold out for the 2024 event, in June.
However, although built and in use, the barn has not been given planning permission – and it has provoked mixed reactions from locals after the application was submitted.
Commenting on the plans, Kim and Steve Marshall hit out at the development, saying it could “open the door to even more of these structures being built without planning permission”.
“It is clear this is a significant expansion of the owner’s Festibell glamping operation, not an ‘agricultural building’ for farming use, and it is likely to be used year-round for people, otherwise expensive double-glazed windows would not have been installed and a house built next door, all without any planning permission,” they said.
READ MORE: Permission sought for barn built to store Glastonbury glamping site, Festibell
“More glamping operators with endless deliveries before, during and after the festival significantly clog up and damage the road surface, making it difficult year-round for residents,” they added.
“Crime has also increased significantly along Cockmill Lane in the last year or so in the months before, during and after the festival, no doubt attracted by the access and expensive property items these off-site operations provide.
“Unfettered building along this road cannot be allowed to continue as the infrastructure simply
does not exist to support it.
“We ask the council to consider the views of those who live here year-round over those who do not live here and have submitted comments as guests of Festibell Ltd and Glastonbury Festival.”
Another critic of the development, Martin Llewellyn, wrote: “This building has a raised ground floor, double-glazed windows on the first floor, and a viewing terrace, which are obviously not for farm use.
“The building constructed has been built not for agriculture but as an adjunct to the actual and evidenced use of the land (without planning permission) as the site for Festibell, a festival-based hospitality operation with designs and self advertisement to become a year round wedding entertainment venue.”
The barn has been built on a plot off Cockmill Lane, adjacent to the Glastonbury Festival site. Picture: Google
However, some have commented in support of the plan, including Fleur Cooper, who said: “This is a stunning building and the owner should be complimented on its design, which is in keeping with several other barns within the area, and it’s appearance.
“I drive past it frequently and, although I cannot see it over the hedges while driving most of Cockmill Lane, I do get a glimpse of it through the gateways and where there is a gap in trees coming down the hill from East Pennard.
“It is a fine example of a modern agricultural building and one to be celebrated.”
Anthony Brereton, who lists himself as a “resident of Somerset and annual visitor to the Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts”, also spoke in support of the structure.
He wrote: “Why shouldn’t those who own land next to the Festival profit from it?
“I think it’s refreshing to see the money being reinvested locally to build a quality Dutch barn in the area, rather than it being spent elsewhere, as quite often happens.”
Meanwhile East Pennard Parish Council also objected to the plans, citing a number of considerations, and called for the barn to be removed.
“East Pennard Parish Council is opposed to this building, and considers that there is evidence of a lack of honesty in the use of the planning process,” their response to the application said.
“This building does not have permission as it differs from the APD submission.
“The area around the festival is already congested with glamping operations, which are bound by the 28-day limit to duration under general development rules.
“This extraordinary permanent construction, which flies in the face of planning legislation and civility, should be removed completely through enforcement action immediately.
“The council has a duty to uphold the law of the land. We ask them to do so.”
Somerset Council has a deadline of Monday, September 16, by which time a verdict on the application needs to be published.
Leave a Reply