Glastonbury Festival funds homes for local people
“Of all the things I’ve done in my life, this is the one I’m most proud of” – Michael Eavis, the founder of Glastonbury Festival, has been donating acres of his land in Pilton to build more affordable homes that will serve the community in perpetuity.
As this year’s festival season returns, Glastonbury goers will be pleased to hear that the money generated through the event is put back into the local community – for good.
Supplying locals with homes is just one of the many wonderful things created through the buzz of the internationally acclaimed festival held in the South-West.
The 86-year-old Eavis, who was recently honoured as a freeman of Glastonbury, started the project to provide more social housing to Pilton in 1996.
The land is less than half a mile from the famous Worthy Farm, where some of the world’s most famous names travel every June for the festival.
He has gifted his land to the Guinness Housing Partnership and is working with contractors EG Carter & Co Ltd to build the houses in a style that suits the village and meet the needs of local people.
The total number of homes built by the project has reached 52, with the latest announcement of 20 more to be built by 2023.
The buildings are designed to be exemplary, constructed using natural stone quarried in Worthy Farm, and consist of houses, bungalows and flats.
They all feature wood-burning stoves, south-facing gardens and stone windowsills and arches.
The project’s first phase was completed in 2018, and 32 homes were made available to the villagers of Pilton and surrounding areas.
The second phase began in May 2022, and will be complete and ready for occupation in April 2023.
Giving back to the local community is a sentiment Michael Eavis is backing to the hilt. “They’ll never be sold – these houses, they’ll never be sold for profit. They’ll be available to rent for ever and ever and ever.”
He hopes that other farmers will follow his example.
“If every farmer gave away ten acres of their land – it’s not a lot. It’s only a corner of a field, it’s not a big deal. If every farmer gave away ten acres of land for social housing, it would help solve the problem.”
The first phase of the project – called Maggie’s Farm after the Bob Dylan song – was opened by David Beckham in July 2017, seen below planting a tree in the development. It was later celebrated and praised by the-then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Eavis made a heart-felt statement in an article published on the Glastonbury Festival website that “Pilton is really important to me – it’s where I was born, where I have lived man and boy, where I have brought up my family, and, of course, it has been home to the festival for more than 50 years now.
“With rural house prices so often out of reach for local people, this gives villagers, most of whom are working families who live around here, the opportunity to live here for the rest of their lives at a social rent.”
Affordable housing for local communities is a topical subject, as the number of affordable homes in the countryside continues to decline as the boom in staycations, holiday homes, and moving to the countryside – all sparked by the pandemic – lingers.
In Devon, South Hams District councillor Judy Pearce said: “There are now hundreds of short-term holiday lets in the main areas, but nothing available for normal lets.”
Campaigning body First Not Second Homes regularly stage demonstrations to voice their frustration. Locals turn up to events carrying placards that bear messages such as ‘Evicted for Airbnb’ and ‘Seven years on the housing list’.
The frustration is also felt heavily in Wales, with its government slapping second-home owners with a 300 percent council tax hike from next year.
But some second homeowners said they feel ‘discriminated against’ and called on councils to halt the tax increases.
Others said they feel like they are being scapegoated for what they branded government failures on affordable homes. They assert that they are bringing tourism to the local areas, and promoting local businesses to guests.
What Michael Eavis is doing is easing these worries for the people of Pilton, and surrounding areas, and giving back to his community in a way unlike any other.
Offering permanent social housing is one way to tackle the concerns for rural residents being priced out of their local area.
The Glastonbury Festival last opened its gates in 2019, but will return this June in 2022, with headliners including Kendrick Lamar, Paul McCartney and Diana Ross.
Feature image by Jaswooduk, “Glastonbury Festival 2011”, June 2011, Flickr.