More toilets, better crowd control and clearer allergen information are among the ways to improve the Glastonbury Festival, according to council officers.

Somerset Council serves as the official licensing authority for the Glastonbury Festival, taking over from Mendip District Council following the latter's abolition in April.

Officers at the unitary authority have produced a list of recommendations for how the 2024 festival could improve on this year's event, focussing on ways to improve public safety, prevent crime and disorder and discourage antisocial behaviour

The festival organisers – who secured permanent planning permission from the district council in one of its final actions – have said they will take these recommendations on board and work with licensing officers closely as the next event approaches.

A post-mortem on this year's festival took place when the council's communities scrutiny committee met in Yeovil on December 13.

Dave Coles, the council's head of regulatory services, said that this year's event "overall was very well-run", with the majority of the feedback from the 2022 festival being taken on board and acted upon.

However, he said that "continuous improvement" was needed in light of the festival "evolving" over the last few year.

Mr Coles and his team have produced a number of recommendations for how the festival could be improved next year – including:

• Review the decision to remove Row Mead from the public camping area
• Assess the crowd densities at the Glade crossroads, which may impede movement from the south-east of the site to the south-west
• Develop a procedure for people bringing and removing chairs to watch acts at the Pyramid stage
• Ensure all food and drinks vendors display relevant allergen information
• Improve the walkway to Worthy View to minimise "steep bends" and ensure its safety during muddy weather
• Explore further proactive measures to "help address excessive loudness and low frequency noise" associated with the festival
• Provide additional toilets and water refill stations throughout the site to reduce queues
• Introduce a "reporting system" to ensure those found entering the festival ground with "prohibited substances" are not permitted to return the following year

Councillor Gwilym Wren, who chaired the committee meeting, praised the council's licensing team for ensuring that there were relatively few issues with the running of the festival.

Mr Wren (who represents the Upper Tone division, comprising Wiveliscombe and the neighbouring village) said: "There's a huge amount of work that goes into this global event, and we are a very small council tasked with dealing with something like this.

"I'm thankful that over the years it's passed off with relatively few problems, and let's hope we can keep that going.

"There are enough people who are concerned about the festival's impact on locals' lives, and we need to make sure we reduce that as much as possible."

The council receives a fixed fee of £32,350 a year to carry out licensing activities in relation to the festival – a sum which Councillor Simon Coles (Taunton East) said "wouldn't even touch the sides" in relation to the actual time and effort expended by its officers to ensure the smooth running of the event.

He said: "My maths is awful, but it works out at about 16 pence per visitor to the festival.

"That strikes me as being an totally and utterly inadequate sum for the work that needs to be done by this council to promote a global event which has a huge impact on the immediate neighbours, who are not unreasonably quite concerned about how it is being managed.

"The fact that it's managed, I think, reasonably well, is a testament to our staff."

Councillor Dawn Johnson (Comeytrowe and Trull) agreed, stating: "It's fantastic that we have this festival in Somerset and the tourism that it brings.

"However, the licensed model is completely flawed, in my view. The council is not being funded for what it provides, and the government's model of licensing for these events is completely out of date.

"They have no capacity for dealing with these festivals that have sprung up throughout the country. Councils are doing a huge amount of work to enable those festivals."

Councillor Susannah Hart (who represents Glastonbury) said that the majority of her constituents were supportive of the festival – but urged the council to continue heeding the concerns of local residents who were directly impacted.

She said: "You're not going to get a massive amount of complaints, because it's almost a fact of life that the festival's going to happen.

"Generally people who live locally make one of two choices. They either get on board and join in and have the fun, or they actually go away for a few days – because if it's not for you, everyday life becomes quite difficult.

"People accept that it's just how it is, there's nothing they can do to change it – but I think the impact on locals who don't want to be a part of it is very significant."

Glastonbury Festival Events Ltd. – which is responsible for organising the festival – said that it accepted the council's recommendations and would work closely with its licensing team to ensure the 2024 festival went off without a hitch.

A spokesman said: "We were very pleased with the local authority's overall feedback that the event was 'once again well-planned and managed'.

"As always, we will be reviewing the feedback and recommendations given in the report, and will continue to work closely with local authority and agency partners throughout the planning and delivery of next year's event."

The 2024 festival will be held at Worthy Farm from June 26 to 30. For more information visit www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk.