Plans for a bridge to connect up the housing estate close to Asda in Frome, with the station were discussed at the latest Frome Town Council meeting.

A bridge across the river has been on the agenda in the town since 2002, but since March 2019, connecting up Frome via a bridge has been championed by the Friends of the River Frome.

But at the Town Council meeting on August 10, Richard Ackroyd from the volunteer group accepted that it was now a bigger project than the group could actually handle, so he asked for council support - not money he stressed.

The funding for a bridge across the river is already in the bank, 106 funding from the developers of Edmund Park, which amounts to £110,000.

However as councillors later learnt this would not be enough to pay for a fully-accessible bridge and the design they were shown had a set of steps to get to the height needed to span the water.

The meeting was told that the preferred route had now been identified to cross the river, and once operational, would save those living on the 450 homes in Edmund, a walk of nearly a mile to get to the station or on to the nearest school.

But the costings put forward were for a bridge which would not be able to be used by wheel chair users or families with pushchairs and buggies - with so many young families living on the park, a big disadvantage. The consultant used by Friends of the River Frome explained that a simple, steps-only design was used in order to get costs for the build , but that they had also been looking at " upcycling a bridge, maybe buying one second hand" and that he was hugely appreciative that any crossing that was not accessible to all, would be a missed opportunity. He estimated that building in a bridge in that location, with ramp and slope access would roughly double the costs.

The area chosen for the best place to cross the river already posed some challenges, but of three options, the one which could incorporated the river walk, with a space to link from the Caxton Road development, at the Old Printworks, identified as the preferred route. Negotiations have already begun

Going forward Frome Town Council agreed to champion the project, and to look at other possible funding sources. Councillors also offered to share contacts with Network Rail who will also need to in agreement for the access to the station over the land they own. The access to the bridge itself still needs to be agreed on the station side which may involve more than just being granted a permission from any landowner : Permissive paths are often controversial because the landowner can withdraw access at anytime.

The current 106 funding needs to be spent on a project by January 2030.

You can read the various options presented to the Frome Town Council meeting HERE