LOCALS living in an idyllic town have slammed “eyesore” caravans blocking their streets.
For five days every summer more than 200,000 music lovers descend on Glastonbury to camp and watch some of the world’s greatest musicians.
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But while most leave the world famous festival with just sore heads, an “unprecedented” number of caravan-dwellers have been accused of causing major headaches for local residents.
The situation has got so bad, some streets are lined with row upon row of ramshackle caravans with locals branding the occupants “hippy thugs” who have turned their community into a “shanty town”.
The Somerset town of Glastonbury – seven miles from the Worthy Farm festival site – has the highest ratio of caravans to homes in the country, local politicians revealed this week.
More than 300 caravans are parked up on roads around the town, which has just 4,000 homes.
The ratio is 23-times higher than nearby Bristol which is dubbed Caravan City.
Councillor Susanna Hart said: “Glastonbury is facing an unprecedented challenge with roadside caravans, with more than 300 vans now parked on roadsides in and around the town.”
She dubbed the conditions “unsustainable” and argued the council can “no longer ignore it”.
Meanwhile local Helen Morris, 79, previously told The Sun: “I think it’s disgusting that they are allowed to live here.
“They’ve parked directly on our road in the past and I’ve called the police because of the noise and mess.
“They make such a mess with their rubbish, I’d like them to disappear and think the council should do something about it.”
But when The Sun spoke to some of the town’s caravan community this week they insisted they are honest and hardworking people who are “treated like scum” by their neighbours.
On one road near the edge of town – lined with dozens of caravans – Ras Khalin, 61, a rastafarian musician told us he has lived on a narrow strip of verge between the tarmac and a stream for the last nine years.
He said: “People think everybody down here is scum but I’m an upstanding citizen, when people come to the camp and see my caravan they say ‘I’d give up my house tomorrow for this’. They are envious of us.
“People are getting forced into debt by rent and bills but we don’t pay anything – most caravans have a wood burner and we collect the wood ourselves.
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“The down side is in winter these are like sardine cans so as much as you heat it it leaves just as quickly.
“There is a good community down here apart from a couple of people.
“Some people do not behave responsibly, some have mental health problems, some have substance problems and some like me just want to live in nature and grow their own food.
“We’ve had killers living in caravans down here, one was here named James who stabbed an elderly man in town, it was all over the news.
Hippies have set up shanty town right next to our homes with HUNDREDS of caravans – it’s destroyed our area
By Summer Raemason
HIPPIES have set up a “shanty town” of storage containers and caravans near the homes of fed-up Glastonbury residents.
Locals say people interested in “alternative lifestyles” are coming to the town but end up living on the grounds of a “derelict listed building” and causing “distress” to others.
Supermarket staff are complaining of shoplifting and residents are now resorting to moving their children away from nearby schools due to “antisocial behaviour”, furious homeowners claim.
There appears to be around 200 caravans, campervans and similar temporary residences in the area.
And Glastonbury’s ZigZag building, which was built in 1934 and historically used for sheepskin product manufacturing, has even become a home to some newcomers, according to locals.
Retired carpenter Les Webb, 76, told The Sun Online: “We’ve had a real problem with those seeking an alternative lifestyle coming to Glastonbury.
“They come here looking some sort of idyllic life and end up living in the grounds of a derelict listed building.
“Some have even made the ZigZag building their home.”
Local businessman Anthony Pearson, 64, said: “We really need to protect this site as it is an historically important one.
“But the current owners don’t seem to want to develop it in a way that would be good for the town.”
Another resident said there was a real problem with a “loose-knit shanty town” of travellers.
Michael Dobson, 56, said: “To talk about Glastonbury as a place of refuge and compassion is to absolutely ignore the awful experiences of people who have to live near these loose-knit shanty towns.
“Staff at local supermarkets have complained to us about the amount of shoplifting which is coming from the people living in the caravans around their shops.
“People are frightened about the amount of people coming into the town who have got absolutely no connection with the area.”
Another local added: “I’m not saying that people who live up there are by definition antisocial and behave badly – I’m sure that is not true at all.
“But the situation is at the moment that there are people living up there that cause a great deal of distress to the residents.
“Ordinary people around the town are fed up. There are people who are moving their children from a local school because of the antisocial behaviour.”
A public inquiry into alleged planning breaches relating to the use of The ZigZag building ended last week.
The building is currently being used as a community and performance space.
Somerset Council has issued enforcement notices after expressing concerns about the building’s new use, as well as the living conditions of those in the building.
In the enforcement notices the council demanded the unauthorised mixed use of the land for storage and residential use was stopped; all caravans, steel containers, goods and chattels were permanently removed; and the land was restored to its original condition before the unauthorised material change of use.
Chris Black, who bought the ZigZag building more than 10 years ago, has been contacted for comment.
On the building’s Facebook page, a spokesman wrote last month: “During [the] last decade Zigzag became a sanctuary or home for 146 people from 21 nationalities (so far we can remember), who stayed more than 2 weeks, mostly for months, many for years…
“People from different cultures, countries, backgrounds, race, sexual orientation and beliefs…
“Zigzag connected us with more than 250 Friday food nights, music events, theatres, performances, open days, b day parties, wedding, textile, pottery, basket making, paper making, archery and wood workshops…
“We had yoga lessons,dance lessons, ceilidhs, therapies, film makers, music video makers and much much more…
“We will always be grateful to Zigzag, this amazing, magical, crazy and never boring place in the edge of industrial estate of Glastonbury…
“Zigzag our home, playground and the best dancefloor in the world.”
When asked about local complaints, a spokesperson for Somerset Council said: “If people witness anti-social behaviour such as street drinking, vandalism or littering they should report it to the Police or to Somerset Council.
“Reports of antisocial behaviour will help the Council and its partners to tackle problems together.
“The Council can be contacted on 0300 123 2224 where a report will be passed on to the Community Safety Team to investigate.
“Police can be contacted by phoning 101 or in an emergency 999.”
“Somebody else stabbed a dog and blew up a caravan so you can see why people give us a bad name.”
James O’Connor, 45, originally from Dundee, fatally stabbed 89-year-old Frederick Burge in Glastonbury on February 26, 2023.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility last year because he was hearing voices and is currently indefinitely detained at Broadmoor psychiatric hospital.
Mr Khalin said a lack of mental health support available in the town was worsening issues in his community.
He said: “These people are the bottom of the pile, they have been forgotten and abused. They need help and support but the council doesn’t want to know.
“I have to police it myself because the police don’t often come down here and I don’t want theft or trouble.
“We are left alone down here because we’re out of the way and tourists don’t see us but people who stay in the town centre are told to move within a week.”
Further along the road we met Quentin Grugeon, 50, who has lived in a caravan in Glastonbury with his dog Bobby, three, since 2020.
He says caravan dwellers from all over the country are drawn to Glastonbury because of its tolerant attitude.
He said: “There’s probably more people who work down here than in the town.
“The traveller and festival people are amalgamated into this town but we have a situation where most of the people arguing against us don’t have any connection with the alternative community.
“Glastonbury has always been magical to us, people come here looking for a higher consciousness.
I save £900 a month living in UK’s ‘Caravan City’ but posh locals want us GONE
By Rob Jenkins
A MAN saves £900 a month living in what has been dubbed the UK’s Caravan City – but posh locals want them out.
Callum Barber moved to the popular caravan dwelling by Durdham Downs, common land in Bristol after a hike in bills.
After becoming disillusioned by the constant rat race of life and facing ever mounting pressures from cost-of-living strains, the maths tutor left his traditional lifestyle behind.
When he received an early inheritance from his father to go towards a van, Callum poured about £30,000 into his new home on wheels.
He told The Sun: “I was living in Bristol, paying £900 a month, including bills. It was horrible.
“I was going to be poor in the present, future and in old age.
“This is my whole world. Everything I own. My life’s work.”
The 40-year-old explained how he can still earn cash for a pension by working remotely on his computer.
And, the money saving guru installed solar panels on his roof which generates free electricity in the warmer months.
In the winter, Callum relies on a small generator to see him through, which is still enough to power a tiny oven.
Meanwhile, water comes at no cost, as the van lifer sources a tap outside a garage.
However, locals are determined to boot out Callum, and the 40 or so others to have parked up to stay in Parry’s Lane and Saville Road.
But the maths tutor claimed most vehicle dwellers are responsible, respectful and don’t cause any problems for residents.
He even takes his toilet waste to a nearby farmer who puts it back into the earth.
Callum alleged most of the complaints came from wealthier homeowners – who have not considered their actions may force people into homelessness.
The caravan community have hit back at what they deem snobby locals.
Some have plastered notes on their vehicles which read: “We are simply trying to live our lives in peace and there is no impact whatsoever on anyone else’s life.”
And the 40-year-old added: “In my mind, van dwellers are absolutely not the problem. One per cent, or less, might not be responsible. But that’s because they’re vulnerable.
“If you want to get rid of van dwellers, sort out the cost of living crisis and the housing crisis.”
Callum also claimed he has not received much help from the council, although he admitted officials do conduct welfare checks in the area.
“We’ve become such a large amount of people because of the housing crisis in the rest of the country. The stability of Glastonbury as a place for low-impact living has been recognised.
“There are people in their 20s living here who have no chance of being able to rent a flat without parents who can be guarantors, it’s just impossible.
“We’re making the best of what we’ve got.”
The town’s Zig Zag building has become a Mecca for caravanners.
Although they don’t own it, they have decked out the derelict factory’s three floors with second hand furniture, sofas, clothes rails and even a giant disco ball. Swathes of caravans surround it.
The local council ruled it’s not fit for human habitation and gave the 20 occupants until the end of last month to move out.
But the building’s owner Chris Black said he cannot comply with the ruling because “it is not achievable and is also not reasonable” to make people homeless.
‘I would be homeless if not here’
Meanwhile, carpenter Ash K previously rented a shared house in Oxford but after losing his job during Covid he moved to Glastonbury and has lived in a caravan for the last five years.
He said: “People have a problem with us because we’re not sticking to what everybody else is doing and we’re saving a lot of money because of that.
“I work as a carpenter but it’s incredibly hard for me to save up for a house so I’d have to pay somebody else to live in their house.
“There’s a lot of people doing different things. We’ve got people doing Tarot readings, people working in bakeries, working at Clarks Village.
‘We’re doing normal jobs but we just don’t want to pay rent and get stuck in a place where we are constantly paying somebody else and will never have anything ourselves.
“We keep it as clean as possible and take our rubbish away. I don’t mind if they think we’re scary people because it keeps them away.”
It’s not clear how many occupants of the town’s 300 caravans are choosing an alternative lifestyle but one resident estimated around 80% are there because they can’t afford anything else.
There were signs of the community spirit including a shower in a garden shed that is free to use. It comes as many of the local churches and community groups no longer allowed the growing number of caravan-dwellers into their facilities.
Another resident, Leighton, 51, said: “I would be homeless if not here. Before this I was homeless living for years in a tent so this is a step up from that.
“Like any community groups we have some polar extremes at both ends of the spectrum but we are a community that looks after ourselves because we don’t get much help from anyone else.”
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