Up to 24 new homes will be built near Glastonbury Tor following a successful appeal.

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 for outline permission 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 in December 2024 to refuse planning permission, arguing it was important to "protect what's left" of the landscape around Glastonbury Tor.

But the Planning Inspectorate has now reversed this decision, arguing that building new homes in this location would not significantly undermine the Tor's natural beauty, spiritual appeal or historical significance.

The site was not included within the Mendip Local Plan Part II, which was approved by Mendip District Council in December 2021 and recently revised following a 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.

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 will be affordable – just under the 30 per cent level mandated for all new developments of ten homes or more in the former Mendip area.

Planning inspector J. J. Evans visited the site on September 14 and published his ruling on the Planning Inspectorate's official website on Wednesday (November 26).

Mr Evans – who previously ruled against plans for new homes on the western edge of Wells – accepted that the Tor ( and the 13th-century St. Michael's Tower which sits atop it) was "a distinctive feature of the area", which had "a strikingly dominant presence".

He further acknowledged: "The prominence of the Tor in the landscape has rendered it an attractive destination since the fifth century.

"Its visual impact, along with its documented confirmation as a religious pilgrimage centre, and its association with the legends surrounding King Arthur, are all part of the significance of the area."

Mr Evans ruled that, despite being outside of the town's development limit, the site was sufficiently close to local amenities to represent a "sustainable pattern of housing growth".

He reasoned: "The scheme would result in the loss of an open area of pasture, and there would be a change to the character and appearance of the area, including during dark hours as a result of light spill.

"However, the dwellings would be seen as an extension of the existing estate which has itself projected housing into the countryside.

"Furthermore, the area of public open space for this estate forms a discrete projection into the pasture-land well beyond the line formed by the nearby dwellings.

"The site would appear as a continuation of the estate and its public open space, thereby minimising the intrusion of the scheme into the surrounding countryside."

Mr Evans added that additional landscaping could be secured at a later stage of the planning process to screen the new homes from the neighbouring streets.

He said: "Despite the dominance and long range views of the Tor and Tower, the combination of the nature of the topography and the extent of the separation between the appeal site and the Tor would be such that the development would be effectively screened from views, particularly when trees would be in leaf.

"When viewed from the top of the Tor by the Tower, the slope of the hillside would largely conceal the site, and this concealment is evidenced by only the top of the roofs of a few of the houses at the northernmost end of the existing estate being visible."

Glastonbury lies within the River Brue catchment area, meaning that any new development must include additional mitigation to prevent any net increase of phosphates on the Somerset Levels and Moors.

To offsets these new homes, the developer to upgrade existing septic tanks in the catchment area with package treatment plants, which allows sewage from residential properties to be chemically dosed to remove large quantities of phosphates on site.

Mr Evans dismissed residents' concerns about "an increased strain on services and facilities", citing the proximity of a local play area and financial contributions for local schools and GP surgeries which had been pledged as part of the outline plans.

He added: "Old Wells Road is speed-restricted, and the provision of an additional 24 households utilising the existing access would not result in unacceptable levels of increased traffic nor adversely impact upon other users of the highway.

"The council acknowledges that it cannot demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land, having a severe shortfall of provision at 2.2 years.

"In such a situation, the provision of up to an additional 24 dwellings would be a significant benefit of the scheme, particularly as 30 per cent of these would be affordable homes."

A separate appeal, asking the council to pay the developers' legal costs for the appeal proceedings, was dismissed by the same inspector.

A reserved matters application, specifying the detailed design and layout of the new homes, is expected to be submitted by the summer of 2026.

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