The future of a major housing development in Frome hangs in the balance after councillors said they were "minded to refuse" proposals for 1,700 new homes.

Outline plans were submitted in August 2021 for the Selwood Garden Community (SGC), which would see green fields between the A361 and the southern edge of Frome transformed into a substantial new community, including new commercial space, a primary school and a riverside park.

Following numerous revisions in the intervening years, the plans came before Somerset Council's planning committee east on Tuesday afternoon (December 3) for a final decision.

But after more than four hours of often heated debate, the committee narrowly voted that it was "minded to refuse" granting permission – with a new vote on the precise reasons for refusal being expected in two months' time.

In addition to the new homes, the development will also include a local centre and community hub (which will include shops, restaurants and offices), more than 25,000 sq m of employment space, two residential care homes (providing a combined total of 105 beds), a 420-place primary school, playing fields, allotments, orchards and new pedestrian and cycle routes.

Around 40 per cent of the site will be set aside public open space, nature reserves or other green landscaping, including a new nature reserve on the southern side of the A361.

Of the 1,700 homes proposed for the site, 30 per cent will be affordable – the equivalent of 510 homes, which will be a mixture of social rented, shared ownership and other low-cost options.

Shortly before the meeting, National Highways (which manages the A36 to Bath) withdrew its holding objection to the plans after the consortium promises to make improvements to the Beckington and White Post roundabouts.

Despite this, large numbers of Frome residents spoke strongly against the plans when the planning committee east met in Shepton Mallet on Tuesday afternoon (December 3).

Mark Pollock from the Friends of the River Frome said: "There is a very well-documented problem with combined sewage outflows releasing sewage into the river. This development must not make this bad situation worse.

"Foul water infrastructure improvements must be considered upfront and not through conditions. The conditions do not encourage a holistic approach – this is a recipe for disaster.

"The remaining playing pitch will be unusable in the winter months, and we would prefer the whole area to be left to natural #flooding management."

Joe Hannam Maggs from the Stop SGC campaign group called for a public inquiry into the plans, arguing Frome had already delivered large amounts of new housing in recent years.

He said: "There has been no historic under-delivery of housing in Frome – covid was an exceptional period which distorts recent trends.

"Mendip has done pretty well at meeting its housing targets compared to other districts. Why are we even considering this site?

"What would everyday life be like living around a building site for 15 years? Doesn't a development of this scale merit a public inquiry?"

Richard Swann from the Frome & District Civic Society said approving the plans would lead to disjointed development across the town's southern edge, referencing the housing developments currently being delivered in the Keyford area.

He said: "This will not deliver genuinely affordable homes at the urgent rate which is needed. Given Frome's chronic employment deficit, the worst in the district, people will commute elsewhere.

"The scheme is totally unsustainable. Competing house-builders will have no incentive to work together to create a master-plan.

"The proposal is unsound, unsustainable and harmful. We urge you to say 'no'."

Steve Tanner, who sits on Frome Town Council, said the development was "a missed opportunity" and the consortium was not providing enough money to bring about genuine improvements to the town.

He elaborated: "The developer should be paying the balance of what's needed at the Gorehedge junction and provide enough funding to complete the Frome local cycling and walking infrastructure plan (LCWIP).

"There should be a six-month local residents first policy on all new housing."

Numerous Somerset Council division members for Frome and the neighbouring villages also spoke strongly against the plans.

Councillor Michael Dunk (Frome West) said: "This application involves 240 acres of productive farmland. There is no mitigation that I know of for the loss of this – this is the start of the countryside around Frome.

"I have no confidence in the developers' reasoning. Any mitigation cannot offset the destruction of productive land and the loss of public amenity."

Councillor Shane Collins (Frome East) added: "This proposal is the largest expansion of Frome since St. Aldhelm founded the town nearly 1,200 years ago.

"A 23 per cent population increase is going to lead to a squeeze on local doctors, dentists, roads and schools.

"Looking at the build-out programme, we will see only 106 affordable homes in 2030, 260 by 2036 and 500 by 2040. An average of 23 social rent homes per year starting in 2030 is not going to solve the housing crisis.

"The main road into the town from the new homes is The Butts, which has on street parking and so cars cannot pass in opposite directions."

Following several hours of debate, the committee voted by seven votes to five to state it was "minded to refuse" the plans, with the reasons including the climate impact, the "disproportionate" level of growth, the impact on the town's character and departing from the Mendip Local Plan Part II.

The council's planning officers will now formalise these reasons for refusal, with a further vote expected to be taken in early-February 2025.

The committee's ruling was welcomed by Fletcher Robinson, trustee of the Somerset branch of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE).

He said: "This is good news for historic market towns besieged by speculative development proposals.

"These green fields are the landscape setting of the town. They provide access to the countryside and enhance the quality of life for people who choose to live in rural market towns.

"There is nothing 'sustainable' about cramming development around historic rural market towns like Frome – all it does is add to traffic congestion in the town centre.

"People are not going to walk into town from this development – they will drive.

"What we need is for Somerset Council to be given powers to capture land value to enable it to build one or two self-sufficient well-served garden villages in new locations that will not ruin the historic places that we all value so much."

The Selwood Garden Consortium has been approached for comment.