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Neighbourhood Plan

what's the plan?

The following pages provide an overview of the Neighbourhood Plan across five key themes.

This page introduces the Plan and its purpose. Each themed page then explores a specific topic in more detail, explaining the issues, priorities and policies that make up the Plan. Together, they present all 18 planning policies.

The final page explains how to access the full Neighbourhood Plan, Summary Document, and Appendices, and most importantly, how you can have your say during the consultation.

Shaping Glastonbury’s Future

The Glastonbury Neighbourhood Plan sets out a community-led vision for how the town should grow and develop between now and 2040. Prepared through consultation with residents, businesses, and community groups, the Plan aims to ensure that future development reflects local priorities whilst protecting the qualities that make Glastonbury unique.

The Neighbourhood Plan will help guide planning decisions across the parish of Glastonbury and sits alongside Somerset Council planning policies. Planning decisions made today will shape Glastonbury for decades to come.

The town faces a number of opportunities and challenges, including:

Protecting its unique heritage and character
Sustainability and climate
Supporting local businesses
Meeting housing needs
Protecting green spaces and biodiversity
Ensuring infrastructure keeps pace with growth

The Vision

By 2040, Glastonbury aims to be a place where:

People of all ages and backgrounds feel welcome to live, work, and visit.
The community has preserved and improved the unique legendary character and historic qualities of the town, resulting in a strong economy and a widely recognised local culture.
The distinctive landscape, both physical and social, has been maintained through planned and structured growth.
New housing development has been delivered which is proportionate to the needs of the residents, both in terms of volume, size, and design.
The town has become an exemplar for other market towns by creating an environmentally sustainable place, which is close to becoming carbon neutral, having increased local resilience to the impacts of a changing climate through sustainable design.
The unique creative arts culture has been incorporated into new development in a sympathetic and considerate way.

THE 5 AREAS OF FOCUS

The plan is laid out under 5 main headings:

Environment & Green Spaces – Protecting green spaces, biodiversity, trees, orchards, and wildlife habitats. Read more
Sustainability & Climate – Supporting renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions, and encouraging sustainable travel. Read more
Heritage & Character – Protecting historic assets, local identity, culture, and creativity. Read more
Employment & Economy – Supporting local businesses, tourism, enterprise, and town centre vitality. Read more
Housing – Providing homes that meet local needs whilst supporting sustainable development. Read more

POLICIES AT A GLANCE

Browse the Neighbourhood Plan policies as they appear in the summary.

The policies are numbered 1 – 18 relating to each of the 5 topics: environment & green spaces, sustainability & climate, heritage & character, employment & economy, and housing.