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| Worthy Farm, Pilton |
VICTORY UPDATE (21/7/21): Emily Eavis, organiser, has announced via Instagram that the September Equinox Event has been cancelled.
First report here from Paul Jones of the County Gazette.
Second report by SomersetLive has now been published.
21/7/21 10:10am. This BBC report has finally arrived, hours after the County Gazette and Somerset Independents had already reported it.
Pilton resident Joanna Benner told Somerset Independents this morning:
"50,000 people during a pandemic was never a good idea - it was pure greed by a large corporate business that has little regard for villagers. This decision will be a huge relief for many in the local community."
Leader of Somerset Independents Andrew Pope says:
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Andrew Pope "This September 'Equinox' concert was a really bad idea during a Global Pandemic. Residents across Somerset would have been put at risk by a Super Spreader event, and infection rates of Covid-19 are accelerating again.
Cancelling this event is the responsible thing to do and we applaud the organisers, Glastonbury Festival Events Ltd, for doing so.
But they should never have even thought of running this event in the first place.
Mendip District Council councillors Francis Hayden, Sam Phripp and Helen Sprawson-White should be ashamed of themselves for approving the event at the Licensing Hearing (see below).
There were clear conflicts of interest by councillors, the concerns of residents were ignored by councillors, there was terrible Chairmanship by Cllr Phripp and a lack of due process.
This debacle has brought Mendip District Council into further disrepute - if that were possible.
It's no wonder that local residents see Mendip District Council as "corrupt".
Somerset Independents listens to local residents and we acted with local residents to raise their concerns."
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In May 2021, "supine" Mendip District Council took a week to decide, behind-closed-doors, to "bend over backwards" for Glastonbury Festival Events Ltd (GFEL) on their application for a premises licence at a new concert event at Worthy Farm, Pilton in September 2021.
It took the councillors and officers a week to decide in private, after a series of chaotic public meetings of the Licensing Sub-Committee.
The MDC press release (now missing from their featured articles on their PR website) is below, at the end of this article.
As documented elsewhere on the Somerset Independents website, local residents spoke against the application and wrote in objection to it.
We have listened carefully to those residents and they have given us permission to publish their media release. They have raised many very important concerns.
Somerset Independents has commented on the failings of Mendip District Council (MDC):
- in their duties to local residents and visitors to Somerset
- in failing to prevent and manage conflicts of interest of the councillors who sat in judgement on the Licensing application by GFEL and
- in MDC failing to follow due process and proper governance.
It is difficult to disagree with that view, because the evidence supports their view. The contrast in approach with other licensing applicants is stark and very concerning. There is a striking lack of consistency and an apparent favouritism to GFEL.
MDC officers both inside and outside the Sub-Committee were indeed supine. Only one environmental health officer dared to try to impose conditions on noise on GFEL. The Chair of the Sub-Commitee, Councillor Sam Phripp, then allowed that officer to be harangued and cross-examined by GFEL's solicitor.
Meanwhile, MDC's environmental health and licensing officers gave GFEL an easy ride.
The Chair did not conduct the meeting with any semblance of due process. It was extremely long-winded and chaotic. The initial meeting went on for hours, having to be re-convened the following day.
Even Somerset's hard-working Local Democracy Reporter Daniel Mumby had to give up his coverage at one point, because it went on so long. His frustration was clear in his eventual report that it took them "nearly a week" to decide.
Following up on points raised by residents on Covid-19 and public health, Somerset Independents has challenged Mendip District Council to show that it listened to residents.
We also have challenged Mendip District Council to show that the Sub-Committee considered the Covid-19 concerns raised by Somerset's top public health official, the Director of Public Health, Trudi Grant. MDC was unable to show this, because it did not consider them.
Instead, MDC passed the buck.
Ms Grant made 3 recommendations in a letter to the Deputy Chief Executive of Mendip District Council on 8th April 2021.
But the Sub-Committee didn't consider them. Because they were not in the report.
We have confirmed this directly with MDC, after looking at the agenda. We could not see it, despite the agenda being huge. It was full of holes. The application was full of holes.
The holes include Covid-19.
The report to the Sub-Committee completely omitted the public health concerns raised by Ms Grant, despite them being raised in good time before the Sub-Committee agenda was produced.
We have the proof that they were not considered in writing from the author of the report, the Senior Licensing and Business Support Officer for MDC, who told us that, and we quote:
"The document you refer to was passed onto GFEL for them to take into account when they prepare their Event Management Plans for this event.
Somerset County Council Public Health (SCCPH)did not make a representation under the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of this application so therefore this document would not form part of the papers presented at the hearing. That said, SCCPH sit on the Multi-Agency Partnership meetings with GFEL and am sure they will monitor the situation closely in the lead up to the event taking into account current legislation.
This event will take place on one evening this year, Saturday 18th September 2021 and NASS over the following weekend."
We interpret this as MDC passing the buck to GFEL on Covid-19 and public health. We interpret this as ignoring the recommendations from Ms Grant.
What other possible interpretations are there? But perhaps we have missed something, so we have gone back to Ms Grant to ask her a few questions and see if she is happy.
We also believe that the above response from the MDC Licensing Officer is also a dismissal of Ms Grant's letter.
How can it not be a representation? It doesn't make sense at all.
Presumably as a Responsible Authority under the Licensing Act 2003, Ms Grant didn't just guess by coincidence that GFEL had put an application in? MDC would have notified her as Director of Public Health, and a Responsible Authority. And she then provided her comprehensive response.
Therefore any response would automatically be a representation under the Act?
This would seem a logical conclusion, indeed the only conclusion, when the title of the letter was:
"RE Live Music Event at Worthy Farm License Application by Glastonbury Festival
Events LTD for September 2021"
Ms Grant's recommendations were:
"Recommendation 1: Given the uncertainty regarding future levels of transmission and
or the possible emergence of a variant of concern, we would strongly recommend that
a condition of granting the license is that the event organisers are able to evidence a
robust cancellation policy and process, that they will be liable for enacting. This will
ensure that if the local or national situation changes at short notice, the event
organisers are in a position to respond and advise people that the event is cancelled
and that they cannot attend, thereby assisting local and national teams to help protect
the nation’s health....
Recommendation 2: The DPH cannot see how an event of this size, at this site, could
proceed if social distancing measures remained in place at the time of the event and
would therefore suggest cancelling the event if at the time social distancing measures
were still in place at the time of the planned event. (Festival organisers referenced this
factor in their event management plan submitted for the cancelled June 2021 festival)....
Recommendation 3: it would be helpful to have as much time as possible to review
and plan the covid19 secure measures in partnership with Festival organisers, to ensure
every opportunity is taken to protect the population’s health and well-being. We would
request a draft of the Covid-19 secure plan to be submitted at least 90 days in advance
of the planned event, to ensure adequate time to make this plan as robust as possible,
recognising that central government guidance is subject to change at any point in time."
We challenged MDC to show how all of these recommendations were addressed in the Decision Notice to approve the event.
They could not show this, because they didn't address them all. They only addressed one, and that was only partially. The Decision Notice states:
"17. ‘Covid Secure’ planning considerations and a full risk assessment will be
undertaken in partnership with Somerset County Council, Public Health
England and in line with the Government Roadmap and relevant legislation,
advice and guidance at the time if required. Such planning shall include a
cancellation and/or evacuation plan."
Yet this is still passing the buck. And leaving it all until the last minute. It is putting people at risk of harm.
We believe
that Ms Grant is doing her utmost in such a difficult job in protecting Somerset residents from
potential "Super Spreader" events in Somerset. We have praised her on multiple occasions and thanked her. But MDC need to back her recommendations.
Such "Super Spreader" large events include, but are not limited to, this September concert at Worthy Farm - if it goes ahead - and the NASS Festival at the Bath and West Showground. NASS was recently postponed from July to September, as reported on the Somerset Independents website.
Leader of Somerset Independents Andrew Pope says:
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| Andrew Pope |
"Somerset Independents do not oppose these events. We want people to enjoy themselves in our fantastic county of Somerset. Somerset is a welcoming place for visitors.
But we were formed to stand up for local residents.
These events need to be managed properly and there must be clearly-defined conditions and limits. It is the job of MDC to act like a Licensing Authority for all applicants, and to be consistent. But it doesn't seem to be.
MDC has not managed licensing consistently for many years. There have been too many terrible impacts on residents, and MDC has been deaf to the complaints. MDC has dismissed complaints and has even made it difficult for residents to complain.
So now during this continuing Global Pandemic of Covid-19, it is the time to begin to manage these large events properly, for everybody's sake - visitors, businesses and residents alike. We need certainty now.
We hope that MDC will urgently listen and act on residents' concerns and the concerns of the Director of Public Health to protect everybody in Somerset from Covid-19. This must start with imposing the DPH's conditions on large events and NOT by passing the buck to GFEL or anybody else.
How MDC achieves this is MDC's problem, not the problem of residents and good public servants who have been let down by MDC's supine Licensing Authority for too long.
MDC is the Licensing Authority. It needs to act like an authority that serves local residents, instead of taking the easy option. Councillors are supposed to represent the public, but at MDC they do not."
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| Standing Up For Residents |
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An application was made to Mendip District Council for a premises licence by Glastonbury Festival Events Limited (GFEL) and representations were received from responsible authorities and other persons.
A sub-committee hearing was held on 12th May 2021 for all parties to state their case.
The Licensing Sub-Committee has granted the licence, with conditions.
The Decision Notice is posted in full on the Council's website 
Decision Notice (revised) [294.19KB]
Cllr Sam Phripp, Chair of Licensing at Mendip, said: "Whenever a licence application is considered, Mendip rightly assesses the impact of an event on local people and seeks to find a decent balance.
"With regard to Glastonbury Festival Events Limited holding a concert in September, we've heard concerns from residents, and those concerns are reflected in more than fifty conditions that have been added to this licence. We believe they're sensible measures, and match the perceived risk of the event.
"With a view to Covid-19, of course, any event would have to be Covid-safe, and Mendip will work with other organisations and the organisers to make sure that's the case."
Cllr Phripp added: "It's in everybody's interest for events like these to be a success, but as Chair of Licensing at Mendip, I'm clear that we'll keep our ears and eyes open and take on board feedback from residents in Pilton, just as we would with any other event.
"We hope that, Covid-depending, this event will be a success, and we look forward to welcoming music lovers back to our corner of Somerset this autumn."
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