It has become a rock music cliché, but Glastonbury Festival truly is one of the world’s biggest music and dance festivals.

And the huge improvements at the event in recent years have been thanks to the close partnership working between festival organisers, Mendip District Council, Avon and Somerset Constabulary, the emergency services and dozens of other organisations who help to ensure this mammoth event stays safe.

From humble beginnings in the early 1970s when just 100 people attended, it has now grown to attract more than150,000 revellers – creating a tented city the size of Sunderland.

But it hasn’t been complete plain sailing for those involved with organising such a huge event.

In the 1990s, as the licensed attendance grew, so did the number of illegal entrants and security provisions were unable to cope.

This came to a head at the 2000 festival when an estimated 250,000 were on site, which put public safety at serious risk. The event was branded uncontrolled and unsafe, and the district council prosecuted organisers later that year.

The following year, organisers decided to take a year out and contemplate their plans for future. It was also clear that the council and police equally had to improve their ways of dealing with the festival.

This was the beginning of the culture of partnership working between the three key agencies. This group has transformed the festival into the successful Glastonbury we see today.

The main challenge for this group was to make improvements for the benefit of public safety, crime reduction, emergency planning and to minimise impact on the local community.

Since then the group has helped create a safe and controlled event which is held up as a beacon for its multi-agency approach to planning large scale events.

Cllr Nigel Woollcombe-Adams, Mendip’s deputy leader, says the joint planning for the festival has “ensured huge improvements to safety and saved the festival’s future”.

And his comments are backed up by the Audit Commission, which said that the district council had “worked effectively with its partners to improve the way that the Glastonbury Festival is managed and controlled. The council has moved from simply providing a licensing function to proactive regulation which contributes to the success of the event.”

Some of the key successes of the partnership working are:

• Compliance with licence conditions
• Improved noise management
• Reduced impact on the local community
• Halved the percentage of hospital referrals
• Reduced reported crime
• Improved emergency planning
• Prevented unauthorised encampments
• Eliminated ticket touting near the festival
• Reduced vehicular movement
• Reduced ticketless fans arriving

Cllr Nigel Hewitt-Cooper, the local district councillor covering the Glastonbury Festival site and the portfolio holder for neighbourhood services which includes licensing the event, said: “Since becoming a councillor I can clearly see the huge improvements that have taken place regarding partnership working.

“It has also been very encouraging to see the proactive approach that the new organisers have to listening to our concerns and acting on them.

“This has become a world renowned event and other authorities use it as a standard when organising similar large scale events.”

Speaking about improvements at the festival Rachael Rogers from the Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS), said: “It is clear strong working relationships have been developed between all agencies, particularly the key agencies.

“This can now be put forward as an exemplar of how a large event should be planned, organised and licensed.”

The council and the police have contributed to nearly a decade of improvements to the festival in the interest of visitors and locals.

The methods being used to achieve so much at Glastonbury Festival are now having a wider positive impact on other local and national events.

The partnership working has been so successful that only fine tuning and minor changes are required to the planning and operation of the event.

Melvin Benn, licence holder for Glastonbury Festivals said: “What really makes this extraordinary festival work and be safe is the incredibly strong partnership working with Mendip District Council and Avon and Somerset Constabulary. There is no question that I am responsible for the festival with Mendip and Avon and Somerset being the judges and monitors of what I do.

“No-one should ever underestimate the valuable and often unseen role that the district council and police undertake as public bodies working with a private one to make Glastonbury Festival the greatest event on earth.”

TOP 10 FACTS ABOUT THE COUNCIL’S WORK AT GLASTONBURY

• The council boasts well over 200 years of Glastonbury Festival experience between the band of staff that work on all aspects of monitoring the event.

• We ensure 400 food stalls on-site are inspected to make sure they are preparing and serving food safely.

• Teams ensure there is enough space and facilities to house the 177,500 campers on-site.

• The council’s time and effort in monitoring the festival is paid for by festival organisers through the costs of applying for a licence.

• Making sure everything runs smoothly with the infamous Glastonbury toilets of which there are 4,000, as well as the site’s water supplies including two reservoirs holding 2,000,000 litres of water.

• The council has led on a major reduction in ticket touts, which has been one of the biggest success stories of the event.

• Whether it’s smell, smoke, litter, light or music, the council is on hand to make sure everything is under control and goes to plan.

• Noise experts from the council check nearly 100 stages, venues and sound systems which have a total power of 650,000 watts – the same as 13,000 home stereos. Glastonbury’s main pyramid stage has 250 speakers alone.

• Organisers have to ensure they stick to the rules of a 27-page noise management plan, which they agree with the council before running the event.

• Among the other tasks for the council are monitoring health and safety, inspecting taxi and private hire cars with the police, checking unlicensed vehicles, cracking down on unauthorised alcohol sales, monitoring temporary camp sites and food sellers and cracking down on unauthorised charity collectors.