Jeremy Corbyn Officially Opens New Homes Built on Land Donated by Michael Eavis

Over the past 12 months E G Carter & Co Ltd have constructed 13 new homes for Guinness Partnership on behalf of Michael Eavis.

Whilst on site, Mr Eavis, Jeremy Corbyn, Michael Carter (MD of E G Carter & Co Ltd) and Jon Milburn (Guinness Group Development Director) took a tour of one of the new houses owned by new residents, Hayley and Ross.

Whilst looking around the home, Jeremy met his biggest fan, 6 year old Jayden, who had been looking forward to meeting Mr Corbyn since finding out he would be visiting his home. Jayden was able to show everyone his new room whilst his mother and father talked about how the new development had changed their life.

“This home has provided us with a different way of life, where we lived before was very cramped and now because of the space the kids can explore and be children instead of being confined to the house. The new development is more of a community and as a family we are so much happier, it’s changed our life.”

The land was donated by Michael Eavis and the new development was named Maggie’s Farm/Margaret Bondfield Close after the British Labour politician. The properties, a mixture of one, two and three bedroom homes, have been offered to local people living in Glastonbury. The latest Housing Needs Survey demonstrated that up to 18 households around Pilton needed somewhere affordable to live, so the new properties have been provided for people with strong local connections, with some now able live closer to their families.

The homes have a high quality building specification with materials to ensure energy efficiency and reduce running costs. The new homes have open plan ground floors with a central log burning stove to supplement the heating. Wood for the stove has been gifted by Michael Eavis.

When asked what Jeremy Corbyn thought of the Maggie’s Farm development and the generous donation from Michael Eavis, he said:

“Michael donating the land is a massive step forward and we should all be grateful to him for that. I’m very keen that we have the policies that government supports local authorities in rural areas and makes sure they do build good quality social housing, council housing association places, with secure lifetime tenancies and affordable social rent levels. Here we have thermal heating from the ground, and the houses have been built with stone from the quarry. It means that these houses look in place even though they’re very new and normally new places don’t look in place, this does.”

Michael Eavis said, ‘These are houses for village people to live in and they will never be sold. My dream was to have 50 houses available for the festival's 50th anniversary in 2020. Today, we are one step nearer to making that dream a reality.”

Philip Barnes, Partnership Housing Manager at E G Carter & Co Ltd, said “It has been a pleasure to work alongside Guinness and Glastonbury Festival. These new homes are not only built to the highest quality but also provide much needed homes for residents with strong connections to the village of Pilton. We are looking forward to working with both Guinness and Glastonbury Festivals in the future”

E G Carter & Co Ltd have built in excess of 500 new homes in rural villages and towns across the South and South West of England, with a number of similar projects in the pipeline over the next few years.