The iconic Blue House, in the centre of Frome next to the river, has won an appeal to make alterations to its North wing.

The building, which dates from around 1726 was originally a Bluecoat School and was built over an earlier alms-house believed to have dated from around 1465.

It is Grade I listed and described in the Inspectorate ruling as having

"imposing scale and rich detailing". But the current Trustees, having been left what they call a generous amount of money, applied to update the building. It is currently laid out as 17 bedsits some of which have leaky flat roofs.

Those date from the 1960s and early 1980s and the Blue House Trustees want to convert some of them into one bedroomed flats. The work is along the North wing and will involve a new roof for the wing and the adjoining laundry,

The planner accepted that : " Although it would be of a limited scale, the new extension would however further erode the strong symmetry which characterises the Blue House. It would also slightly protrude forward and thus diminish the appreciation of the historic property, to the detriment of its significance. The proposed development and works would therefore cause harm to the significance of the Blue House as a designated heritage asset albeit, in my opinion, at the lower end of the less than substantial spectrum."

So he ruled that the work can go ahead, with some small amendments.

It is a welcome relief to those at the Blue House who allege that Mendip planners have been slow to make any decisions (although they did not object to the plans in principle).

The Trustees claim: " Mendip failed to give us a decision

for over six months from October 2019 to the end of April 2020. We were expecting a decision before Christmas 2019."

An inspector appointed by the Secretary of State made a visit to Frome to check on the scale of the works proposed on 10 September.

Vice Chair of the Trustees Bill Lowe told Nub News :"The planning appeal decisions enable us to carry on our work of improving the accommodation at the Blue House for our residents, and to give effect to a recent generous bequest."

They have provisionally programmed the work to start mid July 2021 because the re-roofing will need to happen in the summer months, after the Blue House gardens are open to the public during [hopefully] the Frome Festival.

The front of the building carries two statues - an elderly parishioner known as Nancy Guy and a Bluecoat schoolboy known as Billy Ball.

In the planning document the inspectorate wrote: " There is no doubt that the Blue House is a visually striking building."

In terms of technical specifications details : " The polycarbonate dome rooflights would be removed and the existing flat roofs, which are prone to damp penetration, are proposed to be replaced by a shallow pitched roof finished with a standing seam zinc and set behind the existing

parapets."