New homes will not be built within view of Glastonbury Tor after plans were refused by local councillors for a second time. Elan Homes has been delivering the Avalon development of 60 homes on Old Wells Road in Glastonbury, just over the road from West Mendip Community Hospital.
T. & A. Land Associates Ltd., which is based on the Marston Trading Estate in Frome, applied in June 2024 to build a further 24 homes at the bottom of Cullen Farm Road, one of the main estate roads within the Avalon site. Somerset Council’s planning committee east (which handles major applications within the former Mendip area) voted to refuse planning permission in December 2024, arguing it was important to “protect what’s left” of one of Somerset’s most beloved landscapes.
The plans were reconsidered on January 7 following the government’s changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which sets out the legal basis on which planning applications can be determined. But councillors stuck to their guns and voted for a second time to refuse the plans.
The site was not included within the Mendip Local Plan Part II, which was approved by Mendip District Council in December 2021 and is in the process of being revised following a successful judicial review. The plans were initially put forward during a ‘call for sites’ by Glastonbury Town Council as part of the early stage of developing a Neighbourhood Plan for the town – which is expected to go out to a local referendum in May.
The developer originally intended that up to 34 homes would be delivered on the land, which lies at the south-east corner of the Avalon estate; however, this was revised down to 24 following initial discussions with Somerset Council’s planning department. Of the 24 homes planned for the site, seven would have been affordable – just under the 30 per cent level mandated for all new developments of ten homes or more in the former Mendip area.
Plans for 24 homes on Cullen Farm Road in Glastonbury
(Image: Brimble Lea & Partners)
Councillor Lokabee Lokabandhu, the current mayor of Glastonbury, urged the committee to stand by its original decision when it met in Shepton Mallet on January 7. He said: “I’m disappointed this has come back to us – we haven’t had a reason why the original decision wasn’t issued in a timely manner.
“We are actively exploring the possibility of applying for World Heritage Site status for Glastonbury. This will certainly include the Tor and the Abbey but we are actively considering the entire landscape – the myths and legends of Glastonbury permeate the whole landscape, rather than a couple of particular ruins.
“We do appreciate that Somerset has a very limited land supply of housing, but we have identified a five-year supply of sites within the town in our Neighbourhood Plan.”
The new NPPF was published on December 12, 2024 – after the committee’s original decision to refuse the plans, but before the decision notice confirming this ruling had been published, meaning that the plans had to be reconsidered under the new advice.
Planned site of 24 homes on Cullen Farm Road in Glastonbury
(Image: Daniel Mumby)
The new NPPF includes higher housing targets for Somerset, as part of the government’s push to deliver 1.5 million new homes over the course of this parliament. In the absence of a five-year housing land supply, applications can now only be refused if there is “strong” evidence that the harm created by a development would outweigh the benefits of delivering new housing or employment space.
Glastonbury is expected to deliver a significant amount of new housing over the next decade, with several brownfield sites being identified within the Mendip Local Plan Part II alongside the Lowerside Lane site, where 90 homes were approved on appeal in May 2023.
Councillor Dawn Denton (Frome North) said: “If you remove a tree, you can plant another one – but if you put something in the way of heritage, then it is having an impact forever. This development if approved will be used as an excuse for the next one, and the next one after that.”
Councillor Susanna Hart (whose Glastonbury division includes the site) agreed, stating: “We don’t want to build here – we don’t want development creep and we don’t want to impact on something which could be a world heritage site.”
Councillor Edric Hobbs (Mendip Hills) added: “My stance hasn’t changed at all – I don’t think anything’s changed.” Councillor Martin Dimery (Frome West) took a different view, stating: “I’m not sure the reason for refusal is all that strong, given the amount of development that’s around the base of Glastonbury anyway, which has been going on for centuries.
“I get Dawn’s point about urban creep, but a decision was taken recently to build on the adjoining land, and I don’t think we’ve got a good case to turn it down.”
After around half an hour’s debate, the committee voted to refuse permission by five votes to three, with two abstentions. The developer has not yet indicated whether it intends to challenge this decision by lodging an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate