A Somerset council faces a fresh legal challenge over proposals to redevelop a key Frome town centre regeneration site.

Mendip District Council has been working for several years to redevelop the Saxonvale site in Frome town centre, attempting to deliver a mixture of new homes and commercial space within the brownfield site.

Two rivalling proposals for the site have been granted planning permission – a scheme for 300 homes and commercial space, put forward by the Acorn Property Group, and a scheme for 182 homes, a lido and an arts venue, presented by Mayday Saxonvale.

Mayday Saxonvale is now taking the council to the High Court for a judicial review, contending that it "misrepresented" its own planning policies when granting permission for the Acorn scheme.

This comes less than two months after the council lost a separate judicial review, forcing it to remove five housing sites – including two near Frome – from its Local Plan Part II.

The Acorn scheme was originally granted outline planning permission in January 2021, with the decision being re-confirmed by the council's planning board in September 2021 after the Local Plan Part II policies were published.

Mayday Saxonvale contended in September 2021 that the council was in breach of its own policies, allowing a smaller number of affordable homes to be approved for the site along with a smaller employment allocation.

The group announced on Friday (February 10) that they had been granted a judicial review on these grounds, with the High Court due to hear the case later in the year.

Mayday Saxonvale director Damon Moore, who lodged the legal challenge, said: "The Acorn Plan for Saxonvale goes against the council's own Local Plan for employment space in Saxonvale.

"Now a judge has agreed that there is an arguable case and that it will go to a hearing.

"This gives myself and the thousands of Frome residents who support Mayday Saxonvale the hope that the Acorn plan, which Frome has roundly rejected, will not be imposed on the town, and that we are one step closer to bringing the right plan for Saxonvale to our town – the Mayday plan.

"The council's plan for Frome says that providing more jobs and reducing commuting is the biggest challenge facing the town and that housing needs to be limited to achieve this.

"Despite this being their own policy, the reverse is being implemented with employment site after employment site being lost to housing. Mendip bringing forward the Acorn scheme will be the final nail in the coffin, ending any chance of delivering their own policy.

"Frome needs to bring businesses and people into the central district of our town, increase local jobs, and reduce the need to commute while supporting trade and retail outlets with increased footfall keeping them afloat in these hard times."

The Mayday plans offers "almost three times" the commercial space promised by the Acorn scheme, with offices, studios, co-working spaces, shops and restaurants, along with light industrial units.

Mr Moore said: "Within only a few weeks of opening, our expressions of interest for employment space were oversubscribed. The demand is real.

"Frome continues to incubate small businesses, who then get to a certain size and have premises within which to grow, and so leave the town, taking their jobs with them. We are seeing business after business leaving Frome because there is no space to grow.

"The council's policy was written to boost local business and our economy, but with the Acorn plan, we will again see jobs moving to neighbouring towns like Trowbridge and Westbury.

"The council now has two options. It can defend the claim, or simply decide to save everyone a lot of time and tax-payers money by stepping back, giving Acorn the opportunity to defend their own application.

"Acorn additionally could submit to judgement, amend their application and return it to the planning board for the third time.

"Given the council recently lost a judicial review brought by the communities of Norton St Philip and Beckington, and given Mayday has full planning parity with Acorn, I hope that the council will not subsidise Acorn yet again with so much at stake for the future of Frome."

Mendip District Council has declined to comment on the judicial review.

The Acorn Property Group has said that its scheme will deliver flexible commercial space which can meet the changing needs of Frome's town centre.

A spokesman said: "As regeneration specialists with a proven track record of delivering aspirational and exciting new developments with technically challenging brownfield sites, our scheme is set to transform a tired piece of land with lots of potential into a thriving new community right in the heart of Frome.

"As well as featuring a minimum 45,000 sq ft of commercial space, along with 300 open market and affordable sustainable new homes, the new development will also see the creation of new green space and provide more than £2m of contributions to the local area – including £750,000 for much-needed off-site highway improvements and more than £1m for the improvement of local education provision.

"Our commercial proposals include a co-working office scheme of 25,000 sq ft – one of the biggest in the town – as well as restaurants, cafes and shops which lend themselves perfectly to enhancing Frome's already thriving scene of independents.

"There will also be a range of start-up and live/work properties in which small business owners, creatives and entrepreneurs can live above their work premises, increasing flexibility in the town and reducing the need for commuting and meet the needs of working patterns that have evolved.

"While the outline planning approval sets out a minimum of 45,000 sq ft, our approved parameter plan demonstrates opportunity and flexibility to provide significantly more as the demand is realised.

"At a time when high streets up and down the country are contracting, it is not in Frome's interest to deliver empty commercial property.

"The 73 affordable homes which are being provided are a much-needed requirement to the town which has seen so little provision in the past.

"It is a well-considered scheme and was highly praised by the independent design review panel before it received planning approval.

"We hope that the judicial review can conclude swiftly, and we can move on with securing employment and homes to Frome."

To find out more about the legal challenge, visit www.crowdjustice.com/case/may-sax.