What we want
As you may know the draft Glastonbury Neighbourhood Plan public consultation period currently runs from 22 June to 2 August 2026. We require the Council to extend the deadline ideally until the beginning of 2027 and potentially embrace a significant re-write so that the Plan truly reflects the current wishes of those living and/or working in Glastonbury.
Why we require an extension of the consultation deadline of 2 August:
It's too short
The council has chosen the minimum statutory period of 6 weeks for the consultation - there is no upper limit so they are free to extend
The council failed to arrange postal delivery of the Plan Executive Summary booklet so that these arrived in all households before the start of the consultation period - delivery was due by the end of the first week.
The postal delivery was ineffective with many people still not having received the Plan booklet 2 weeks into the consultation period (we are unaware of the Council attempting to establish the scale of the non-delivery)
The Executive Summary is 24 pages, the Neighbourhood Plan document is 90 pages and the Appendices are 120 pages. In places, the content is quite technical and not easy to comprehend by the average person. 6 weeks is too short a period to read, examine related documents and raise queries.
This is the first time local people have had sight of the draft Neighbourhood Plan. There have been no previous drafts for public review.
The public consultation period is currently the primary time local people can input into the draft Neighbourhood Plan which will heavily influence planning and development in Glastonbury until 2040 focusing on the following areas: Environment & Green Spaces, Sustainability & Climate, Heritage & Character, Employment & Economy and Housing. 6 weeks is too short to review a plan the council has been developing since 2016 and is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape our town.
The timing is inappropriate:
The consultation period coincides with summer holidays and preparations, festivals, hot weather, and a major sporting event - a time when local people are least likely to be able to give it the necessary attention.
A major revision of the UK Government planning legislation, The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is due to be published this summer and may impact significantly on our Neighbourhood Plan. The Somerset Local Plan is also out for initial consultation from 19 June to 24 July. It would make sense to delay public comment on the Glastonbury Plan until the scope and impact of Government and Somerset plans is known.
Inadequacy of the current draft Neighbourhood Plan & lack of community engagement:
Much of the public consultation was done in the first few years of the consultation, pre Covid and the cost of living crisis. Lifestyles, working patterns and other demographics have changed significantly since then making some early consultation irrelevant.
Appendix 8, the Consultation Statement is missing from the appendices so that the public cannot see details of prior public consultation and subsequent results.
The current plan has been drafted by paid consultants - it has not been a community-led process as is claimed and as is required. The community engagement process should be an iterative one, allowing policies and suggestions to be refined over time by the people. Glastonbury people have not been shown emerging policy options, invited to test drafts, or given opportunities to shape the wording of policies before being presented with a finalised, consultant-authored document.
The plan ignores recent, documented community evidence that is directly relevant to land use; e.g in 2023, a well-attended People’s Assembly – filling the Town Hall – produced clear, recorded outcomes on the community’s priorities.Chief among these were: Food security and food sovereignty as a strategic priority for the town; Access to land for small-scale agriculture and small holdings and community-run land projects and enabling local people to return to the land and grow food as well as support for community-led housing models; None of these outcomes is reflected in the draft policies.
Limited support with understanding the plan during the consultation period. Until prompted recently by People of Glastonbury, the council had apparently no intention of holding a public meeting for questions on the plan. PoG requested a panel discussion whereas the council organised a drop in discussion tables event on 21 July that was poorly advertised and attended and at a time difficult for working people to attend. At least one more additional events should be arranged.
Concluding remarks
There is enough time to make this an iterative process with public engagement, likely starting with a review of the 26 Objectives, possible substantial re-drafting and there still being time to aggregate all final public comments and to suggest changes (before the review and the relevant inspections) and then to go for local referendum in a timely fashion to coincide with elections in May of next year. At the referendum, locals can vote to accept or reject the Plan in its entirety.
We therefore require that the consultation period for the Neighbourhood Plan is extended ideally till the beginning of next year to make this iterative process possible and to create a genuinely community-led, up-to-date Plan.
Further information
A notice sent to Council by PoG requiring an extension can re read here.
Neighbourhood Plan information and documents on council website.