Frome Town planners have given a unanimous agreement to plans to welcome back one of the town's favourite butchers, which was hit by an arson attack in February.

Councillors heard on July 16 that H.E.WILLIAMS & SON have plans to re-open and want to rebuild their shop, which will look the same, but with better access for customers.

Frome Town Council met to discuss planning application for the site, a two storey building, with a butchers on the ground floor with an attached two storey residential property accessed via a separate door.

Under application 2020/1124/FUL the owner submitted the re-building details for the site the address being 8 Baker Street, located in the Trinity area of Frome, between Selwood Road and Vallis Way.

On the planning application the family-owned business said:

" The business was in operation until February 2020, when an arson attack destroyed the shopfront and led to the close of the business until repairs to the shopfront and internal fire damage could be carried out."

The planning application to rebuild was welcomed by councillors, who also expressed their optimism that the business was returning.

You can read about the arson attack on the butchers back in February here: Frome Nub News website

The planning papers included a heritage statement about the application:

The site is within the Frome Conservation area and is noted as being part of Frome Character area 2, which is characterised as being a primarily residential area of housing with 18th

century origins.

The site forms part of a loose 'terrace' of buildings at the south-east end of Baker Street, noted as a 'back street' of the Trinity area in the 'Frome Conservation Area Appraisal and

Management Plan' [FCAAMP] and running from Naish's Street, across Selwood Road and emerging on to the cul-de-sac at the south-east end of Vallis Way. 8 Baker Street is the only building which fronts this part of Baker Street and is surrounded to the north-west by the flank of an attached building on Selwood Road and to the south-east by an attached industrial building.