Glastonbury car park housing claims spark online fears

By Laura Linham 9th Jul 2026

Local News by Laura Linham 1 hour ago

A viral Facebook post claiming Glastonbury's town centre car parks could be turned into housing has sparked concern among residents, with Nub News contacted by readers asking what is actually being proposed.

The post claimed a "plan to build houses on our public car parks" had been "exposed" through the Glastonbury Neighbourhood Plan consultation. It named Magdalene Street, Northload Bridge, Chilkwell Street, Wirral Park Road and Street High Street as "areas at risk".

But the official documents checked by Nub News do not show a plan to redevelop those sites for housing. Instead, they point to a much narrower issue at Norbins Road, which is already listed in planning documents as an affordable housing allocation and where previous applications for six homes have twice been refused.

That allocation is not new to the Neighbourhood Plan, and it is not the same as a proposal to build homes on the other car parks named in the Facebook post. The draft Glastonbury Neighbourhood Plan says no housing sites were ultimately allocated through the plan.

Instead, the plan sets out policies for how future small-scale residential development should be assessed. Any proposal for a specific site would still need to come forward separately and be considered through the normal planning process.

Nub News also checked the wording quoted in the post: "Repurpose under-used public car parks for affordable housing & town-centre regeneration."

The wording quoted in the Facebook post — "Repurpose under-used public car parks for affordable housing & town-centre regeneration" — does not appear in the draft Neighbourhood Plan.

Some of the locations named in the post are real and well-used local parking spots, which helps explain why the claim has spread. St Dunstan's Car Park is on Magdalene Street, and Somerset Council lists St John's and Northload Street West car parks on Northload Street.

However, the draft plan does not identify any of these places as housing sites, while Street High Street sits outside the Glastonbury Neighbourhood Plan area.

Other parts of the post are also open to challenge. It cites Section 120 of the Local Government Act 1972 as the key rule for selling land, but that section deals with councils acquiring land. Disposal of council land is more usually linked to Section 123 and wider disposal rules.

The post also suggests national planning policy treats town centre parking as protected essential infrastructure. Parking, access, disability provision, congestion and the effect on local trade can all be considered in planning decisions, but national policy also supports making effective use of under-used land, including in some cases building on or above car parks.

Nub News could not verify the claim that Somerset Council's 2025/26 Asset Review lists town centre car parks as "high-value potential capital receipt sites". A Somerset surplus asset review does refer to car parks as income-generating assets, and warns that selling income-generating assets could harm the council's revenue budget position.

It is the latest in a series of misleading online claims around Glastonbury public projects and council decisions. Nub News has previously reported on local social media groups fuelling AI misinformation fears and has also answered key questions about the Glastonbury Town Deal after further online debate.

The Glastonbury Neighbourhood Plan consultation remains open for residents to respond. Any future planning application or council land disposal would have to be considered through the relevant planning, legal and public consultation processes.