Glastonbury 2003: the Environment Agency report

Mendip District Council's Regulatory Board - who are responsible for granting the licence - met two weeks ago to consider a reports from Council officers and other involved agencies on the running of Glastonbury Festival 2003. The reports from this meeting have been published.

The Environment Agency Report - which looks at the environmental impact of the Festival - cites one incident "on the evening of Friday 27th when an underground collection tank near the Main Stage overflowed into a small tributary of the River Whitelake." They are currently considering what action to take.

It also says that "extra fencing reduced the amount of direct urination into ditches and helped to stop litter spreading around the site", while "the placement of 'no peeing' signs around the site and the leaflets enclosed with tickets helped to deliver a strong message", and that "regular requests not to urinate in ditches helped but some still occurred near the Main Stage." As a result of the better actions of festival go-ers "This year's event was the first for 6 years that passed without significant impact on the River Whitelake". However, it does state that further improvements are still required.

They are also concerned about "the significant amount of litter and waste produced" - this we feel is perhaps slightly unfair, as people at home would be creating litter and waste - and they believe there was an "apparent under capacity of on site collection facilities" - which is probably true, as bins were seen to be overflowing, leading to litter being dropped on the ground.

However, compared to previous Festivals this report seems positive, and as long as we all help to spread the DON'T PISS IN THE HEDGES message, as well as USING THE BINS, we can help the Festival to crack these problems.

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