Would the grass really be greener on the other side of Glastonbury's security fence?

Our Somerset correspondent's blog on the plans being discussed to move - temporarily - Glastonbury Festival to Wiltshire

No one can argue Michael Eavis doesn't like a challenge. He created a festival in the teeth of fierce opposition, has raised millions for good causes and brought musical happiness to millions too....and last but not least turned a struggling dairy farm into a national prize winning enterprise.

So why would the 80 year old and his daughter Emily want to move? There are two main reasons.....and a slightly odd third one.

The first is the headache of negotiating with 26 different landowners who control slices of land that he needs to bring within the embracing arms of this giant festival.

More land is swallowed up for cars parking outside the huge security fence.

It's unlikely prices have gone down as the festival has grown more and more successful. He told me back in January that if he moved to Longleat he would be dealing with one landowner, and that would be a lot easier.

If it was a great success might it strengthen his negotiating hand back home?

The second reason is that as the festival has become more professional the team that makes everything possible are employed all year round. But every five years there is a fallow year to give the village and the fields a break from the months' long build up and the mud inducing leaping about of 175,000 pairs of feet. Organising a festival elsewhere gives job stability to the team.

The third reason mentioned recently was that too many people could cause problems for a big National Grid gas pipeline that runs 1.5 metres under part of the site closest to Glastonbury Tor.

National Grid tell me they do reduce the pressure in the pipeline during the festival but no compensation is demanded for this and their only requirement is that no semi-permanent structures are built on top of the pipe, so the pipeline is one of dozens of factors but surely not a major one.

In reality organising a festival at Longleat wouldn't be a stroll in the park. Although the Elizabethan mansion sits on 1,000 acres, 900 of those are taken up by the sprawling safari.

Nico the Gorilla is famously known for enjoying television in his enclosure but its doubtful Muse at full blast would be his cup of tea. As for the Lions, they would remove the necessity of a security fence on part of the site to keep out the ticketless, but wouldn't any music have to be quite some way away?

If it wasn't going to be a much smaller festival then would some of the 4,000 acres used by tenant farmers have to be used? And wouldn't that mean talks were being held with more than one person?....and that brings us back full circle.