Frome residents have cause for festive joy after their preferred vision for a new development moved a step closer to becoming reality.

Mendip District Council has been seeking to redevelop the Saxonvale site near the River Frome, twice granting permission to a scheme by the Acorn Property Group for 300 new homes, commercial units and an arts and heritage venue within the 'western warehouse'.

Alternative plans put forward by the Mayday Saxonvale group have gathered significant public support, with hundreds of residents surrounding the site during the May Day bank holiday in a show of solidarity.

The Mayday plans were approved by the council's planning board in July, with the proviso that a draft legal agreement between the council and Mayday (known as a Section 106 agreement) come back before the board for approval before Christmas.

The board gave its backing to this agreement when it met in Shepton Mallet on Wednesday evening (December 14) – with the new unitary Somerset Council having to make a decision in the spring as to which schemes goes ahead.

A Section 106 agreement is effectively a contract between a housing developer and the council, in which the former agrees to contribute either physical amenities or money towards these as part of a development.

In this case, Mayday Saxonvale has committed to providing the following:

• 40 per cent affordable housing across the site (the equivalent of 73 properties)
• Providing public open space, landscaping and ecological improvements
• A new footbridge over the River Frome to link the site to Willow Vale
• £827,848.78 towards local education provision (off-site)
• Pestrian and cycle links between the site and Vicarage Street
• Traffic calming measures on Church Road, Vicarage Street and the nearby roundabout
• The realignment of the A362 Garsdale roundabout
• Contributing £246.444.68 towards improving the Gorehedge junction

The planning board had originally been due to debate these proposals, but members instead voted by a margin of ten votes to none (with one abstention) to accept them without any formal debate.

The council's planning policies allow its planning board to vote to accept an officer's recommendation (whether to approve or refuse planning permission) without public discussion – even if the application in question is listed on the agenda for a public meeting.

The council has used this numerous times in the past – for instance on changes to the Delamare Park site in Nunney, or on applications relating to the Commerce Park in Frome, where policy dictates all decisions regarding the site (however minimal) must come before the board.

Planning officer Simon Trafford explained: "Since the application was approved, it's been advertised as a departure from our Local Plan Part II and no further consultation responses have been received.

"We have got a draft Section 106 agreement that's been submitted with detailed heads of terms.

"Reflecting your decision in July, I'm satisfied that the progress that has been made reflects your recommendation."

This decision formally grants outline planning permission to the Mayday Saxonvale scheme – though a decision notice may not be published for a number of weeks.

This puts Mayday Saxonvale's scheme on a parity with Acorn's, and allows the former to bring forward detailed plans (known as a reserved matters application) in due course.

The council's asset management group voted in late-August to approve the Section 106 agreement for the Acorn scheme – promising that both schemes will be fairly evaluated, with the scheme which provides the best value to taxpayers being taken forward.

Speaking after the planning board meeting, Mayday Saxonvale directors Damon Moore & Paul Oster expressed their joy at the decision.

They said: "We're delighted to have completed the conditions associated with our planning approval in August and to now have full outline planning permission for Saxonvale.

"Within the dissolution of Mendip District Council at the end of March, it is now clear that it will be the new Somerset Council that will decide to whom the Saxonvale site is sold.

"We look forward to sitting down with them to demonstrate how we can deliver the best financial and community outcomes for not only Frome, but also the wider Mendip and Somerset regions."