Frome Town Council hosted an open meeting today (October 28) which discussed the future of the town, and ran into discussions about just how big Frome should be allowed to get.

As part of debate into the Selwood Garden Community, which could see 1,700 homes built to the South of the town, questions were asked how people would like Frome to look in twenty years time.

Councillors heard that the Frome is the only town in Mendip with a station, so it makes a very desirable place for new housing; but that the home allocation under the pre-application plans for Selwood have already increased in number.

The Extraordinary Meeting was told that Mendip is committed to providing an additional 600 homes per year as part of its neighbourhood plan.

But councillors heard that the idea of letting more and more houses be built around Frome, creating an area which might be though of as a 'Greater Frome' was not generally welcomed.

Questions from 26 participants ranged from whether the homes proposed would have big enough gardens, why the development did not include any health care provision, or enough school spaces, and included speculation on how coronavirus has impacted housing needs.

Councillors heard that there was a danger that there would be more and more housing on the edges of Frome as bolt on's, leading to urban sprawl and the town simply getting too big to cope. As the former Mayor pointed out, the recent closure of the centre of the town, had highlighted pinch points for traffic and road congestion, and that was without any additional homes.

One question put to the meeting was whether Mendip did not have enough brownfield sites to provide the allocation for new homes without taking up fields and green areas.

Representatives of Frome Town Council said they did not know how much land that would offer, while later councillors heard that Frome did not want to shirk its housing responsibility.

The meeting held over Zoom was told that later in the year it is hoped that there will be a comprehensive survey on just how many homes are needed in Frome, involving both Fair Housing for Frome and Mendip Council.

Meanwhile there was a warning from one participant that the housing world is: " Very, very different post Covid 19. People want gardens, they do not want to work in city centres, the idea of working in a regional working hub is much more attractive. "

He added that working as he did, in the housing sector, the idea of fixing solar panels to homes, was out of date.

Builders, he told them, refer to panels as "building bling" and said that developers were much smarter now, with a move away from concrete and steel construction to timber- framed homes for energy efficiencies.

Cllr Scott Ward told the meeting that without any substance to the plans, including a provision for transport, roads or services for those living in the homes, there didn't seem any clear response for the council to give.

He told the meeting: " I could do a design for anything, like they can. All the drawings don't mean we will get that. I could just draw a helter skelter and make a promise and that would stand. "

The Selwood Garden proposal is now at the pre-application stage and no decision by the Town Council is necessarily binding, but councillors were told that it was an opportunity to hopefully shape the development.

Cllr Andy Palmer said he was sure that while Frome should play its part in the need for housing across the district, he was not sure that the development needed to be so big. " And I want a cast-iron guarantees on what the developer will provide... particularly in terms of schools, I am personally concerned about the middle school squeeze."

Cllr Rich Ackroyd agreed and said: " Promises made are routinely broken. The ugly truth is that developers will say something, but then do (something else), I like the idea we are looking, 10, 15 years ahead (for Frome). If this goes ahead, then no one else should be able to put in a speculative plan for even more homes. We need a master plan."

Although formal comments on line are now closed you can still view the Selwood Garden Community proposals by clicking HERE: the plan site

Frome Town Council formally agreed to delegate authority to the Planning and Development Manager to reflect how the discussion went and send it to the developers behind Selwood, Land Value Alliances.