Glastonbury Festival 2003

Live report by Ben Evans, edited by John Scott.

The regulatory board of Mendip District Council met to debate the application by Glastonbury Festivals to run a festival in 2003 this evening - Thursday 12th December 2002.

We are applying to have a license to run a festival with 150,000 tickets including crew on 27th, 28th & 29 June 2003. No public opposition was received in writing. There was lots of heckling though and many local people were out in protest.

The festival had applied for 10,000 extra tickets for the public, with Mendip District Council recognising the success of the festival in keeping people without tickets out and that the facilities of the festival can support these extra numbers, and the money from these sales would defray the increasing cost of security.

Mark Cann made a presentation on the remarkable progress of the new management team. He also stated that improvements need to keep going. The Marketing Plan was a success, however, there were issues with people outside. The crime and disorder figures were dramatically reduced. The joint operational control was a big success with good multi-agency co-operation. Still it's "No Ticket No Festival" and adding "you helped save the festival now lets keep it for the future".

There will be a 35% increase in security for 2003 focused mainly outside the fence. New safety teams will be introduced for 2003 with increased carpark security, more watch towers and more cameras. New traffic exit plan, a new bridge, and a new person in charge. There will be a dedicated security firm in Pilton plus a new Pilton management position at bronze level.

Glastonbury Festivals had hoped to extend the hours by 30 minutes each night but this was rejected.

There were no real objections from any of the statuatory consultees but there are a number of recommendations when a license is granted. The last question is "10,000 more people - does this mean more or less crime?". Arguably its 10,000 less people causing trouble outside. Clearly now the challenge for the future is ridding the festival of these people who cause trouble outside.

The public has had an opportunity to speak from the floor and address the regulatory board. A strong message was that we are ALL responsible for cracking down on crime. Robin Clark, a pilton local, expressed that he is a bit fed up of the crime wave every year and general mayhem and fence attackers. CCTV might be some value, however, 1 sargeant of 6 promised on a 24 hour feels may not be enough even with the promised security force. Vernon Blythe spoke of public order concerns and satated he does not trust Glastonbury Festivals, and that "an extra 10,000 tickets is just rude". Mr Colin Frasure Mckenzie is concerned about the increasing costs and relationships with gfl.

The buzz word this evening is section 17 and Mr Cann summed up beautifully. It is only up to the council to give reasonable effort to make sure that crime is kept at a minimum. Funding of further staff in Pilton and of CCTV. All parties must work together. We must take all reasonable effort to work together to reduce crime and to put in place the same tight security inside the fence to that outside.

However the final vote has refused the license application. The festival will decide over the coming days wether to submit an alternative application or pursue other legal remedies, but for now it has to be believed that there will be no festival at Worthy Farm in 2003. We will bring you news on this site as soon as the festival makes an official statement.

Cool websites