Up to 25 new homes could be built right next door to a major housing development on the eastern edge of Frome.

The Acorn Property Group was granted permission in October 2019 to build 157 homes on the former Butler, Tanner and Dennis Printworks off Caxton Road.

The developer – which is also overseeing the regeneration of the Saxonvale site in the town centre – is currently constructing the new homes, along with a new 'local centre' and a nature reserve near the River Frome.

Now Persimmon Homes has submitted plans for a separate development on the edge of the printworks site, on land formerly occupied by the town's Cuprinol factory, which closed in 2001.

The new homes will range from one-bedroom maisonettes to three-bedroom houses, with 58 car parking spaces being provided on-site.

Of the 25 new homes proposed for the site, eight will be affordable, with the majority of these being social or affordable rent.

Access to the site will be from Adderwell Road, with a separate access solely for emergency vehicles being provided onto Caxton Road.

A spokesman for Persimmon Homes said: "The majority of the application site comprises a brownfield vacant site with areas of grassland, scrub, hard standing and gravelly bare ground with sporadic trees.

advertisement

"The proposed mix of housing has been designed to be reflective of local market and affordable housing needs.

"The proposed building heights and materials are complementary of the neighbouring properties and wider development."

The Frome Civic Society has raised concerns about the development, centring around the emergency vehicles access and the layout of the proposed houses.

Society chair Dr Patricia Smith said: "The connection [to Caxton Road] could become degraded unless the access road is properly maintained to the boundary of the Butler, Tanner and Dennis site.

"This proposals exhibits a typical unimaginative suburban layout with detached and semi-detached houses cheek by jowl.

"The positioning of the dry attenuation basis on the development frontage is inappropriate and frankly looks like a cratered bomb site."

Mendip District Council is expected to make a final decision on the plans later in the year.