By Christian Lockyer This article was first published by Mid Somerset Newspapers, 11th January 2001. Reproduced with permission. Thanks to all at Mid Somerset Newspapers. Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eavis has explained the reasons behind his decision to cancel this year's event. When he announced the decision last Friday, he said that conditions placed on him by the police and Mendip District Council had made it impossible to get things ready on time. Speaking to this newspaper this week, he said the final decision was the result of a number of small things mounting up. "I am very sad about having to make the decision particularly when you think about other projects in the country in recent times," he said. "Here we have a successful event that survives without financial assistance from anyone but does so much good work for charities and it does seem a shame. "The police report meant that we did not have time and we always felt that the police and Mendip weren't behind our plans.However we had a meeting with them last Thursday and the indications are that they will be much more supportive of our plans. "It will affect the local economy, in particular small businesses, who often rely on the festival to get by each year. I am not sure that the council are really aware of that.It is all very well for certain councillors to whinge on about the management of the event but I would ask them if they are qualified to comment on the way we do things. "At the end of the day people come here because they know they are getting value for money and they know they are coming to a well-managed, well-organised event." Mr Eavis denied rumours that he had already made up his mind to call off this year's event, which would go along with the five-year breaks he has had in the past. "I did want to hold a festival this year but the requirements placed on me made it impossible to do so," he said. He also denied claims that his imminent marriage to local nurse Liz Walker, which will take place in Pilton on August 4, had contributed to his decision. "It should be a wonderful day and it will take some planning but there is certainly no connection between the wedding and the festival," he said. The decision to cancel this year's event will at least give the organisers chance to prepare fully for the 2002 festival. "We have the new superfence which has already been unveiled and that will stop fence jumpers getting in without paying," Mr Eavis said. "We are also looking at the ongoing problems caused by travellers and offsite car parks and have set up separate groups to look into all these problems. "We will be having a meeting with the police in February to talk through all our plans and will hopefully submit our application by the end of the year. Mendip District Council has said it will be looking for a number of assurances in the wake of the organisers' decision to call off this year's event. Glen Crocker, general manager for health and facilities, said: "We are going to work with Michael Eavis very closely to ensure that the 2002 festival is prepared in a satisfactory manner. "Fairly shortly we will be sitting down with the organisers and the police to agree a plan of what we need to do to make sure we cover all eventualities.I cannot say exactly what will be discussed as we are not going into the meeting with any pre-planned agendas. I am sure that the report produced in the wake of last year's event will form the basis of our discussion but there will be a number of other issues raised by ourselves, the police and the organiser himself." Transport campaigner David Redgewell has worked closely with the festival organisers for a number of years and he said it was a tragedy that it was not going ahead this year. "Michael Eavis has done a lot over the years to negate the problems of transport to and from the festival," he said. "The planning goes on months in advance and involves a lot of hard work to ensure that normal services are maintained while other services are provided. I think it is a gross oversight from Mendip District Council to drive away an event such as this. "The Glastonbury Festival is the only chance that Mendip gets each year to promote its name across the globe. I am afraid that their decision to drive away the festival will mean less investment coming into the area from central government over the next 12 months. "Let's face it, the festival is the biggest money spinner this area has and without it we will be much poorer in the coming year. "I am sure that any other council would welcome an event like this with open arms and that may be the answer for Mr Eavis if he does not get the support again next year." One of the many businesses affected by the festival decision will be Serious Structures, the international staging company beased in Shepton Mallet. The company founders, Holly and Steven Corfield, first met and became friends with the Eavis family when they too lived in Pilton. Since they set up the company in 1983 it has gone from strength to strength and now caters for around 25 events every weekend. But the lack of a Glastonbury Festival this year will come as a major blow to both them and their staff. Mrs Corfield said: "It is an extremely good contract for us and we will certainly miss it as it is a big budget exercise.We will push some of our stages to other events because we have more than 20 other events during the same weekend." She explained what was special about the Glastonbury Festival in comparison to other events across the world : "It is a difficult job to manage because for other events we get there three days in advance whereas for Glastonbury it can take us three weeks," she said. "Last year we provided materials for the Pyramid Stage as well as building the Other Stage, the JazzWorld stage, the Smirnoff hospitality tent and the BBC's tower. It takes a lot of time and effort and all our staff enjoy going down to Pilton and helping out on site. It is certainly a unique event and one that we will definitely miss during the year 2001." Mid-Somerset's carnival clubs are preparing themselves for an even more intense fundraising year following the cancellation of this year's Glastonbury festival. For many clubs in the area the annual music event is their main source of financial income. The cancellation of Europe's biggest pop festival comes as a major blow to the volunteers who spend months preparing for the November carnivals. Some clubs, who perform duties such as stewarding at the event, are expected to lose thousands of pounds. One particular club, the Merlins, based at Keinton Mandeville, may not be taking part in this year's carnivals as a direct result of the organisers decision. The club's chairman, Sheila Petherbridge, said the announcement is one factor which has forced them to consider not taking part. "It's not yet definite that we won't go out but we are finding the money aspect of carnival very difficult at the moment," she said." But it's not just money which is hard, we had some members leave as well.I think all the clubs will suffer from this announcement because it is so difficult to raise money nowadays as you don't want to bore people with the same fundraising. You could hold 800 bingos and it still wouldn't bring in enough money to pay for the float entry." With fundraising becoming more difficult clubs are preparing various events and activities to help earn their much needed cash. The cancellation of this year's festival will no doubt reflect on the efforts of club members throughout mid-Somerset. Mrs Petherbridge said: "One thing we should all learn is that we shouldn't rely on major events like this as you never know what will happen." .