Once in a generation decision for Frome : A 'not perfect plan' for Saxonvale is approved

By Susie Watkins

28th Jan 2021 | Local News

A decision has finally been made in the long-running Saxonvale development in the centre of Frome.

Mendip planning board were told that plans, which were approved during a four hour session, had been revised and been given a huge amount of scrutiny,

Councillors were told that Saxonvale current plans are for :

- up to 300 homes

- 4,181 square metres of non residential space

- 351 parking places (for those living there)

- 52 car parking spaces for the commercial units

- 71 replacement car parking spaces for the public.

In 2018 Mendip Council, in what was described again as a " bold move" bought two adjacent plots of land that were owned by Notts Industries and Terramond. Later it exchanged a conditional contract on the additional land with Frome Town Council in March 2019 bringing the whole site to around five acres.

Frome Town Council objected to the plans, saying they were disappointed by the amount of affordable housing and the amount of work space. The council said the current aim is to create 2,700 new jobs in Frome by 2029, and that the Saxonvale development needed to be a much bigger part of meeting that target.

Ahead of the planning meeting Frome Chamber of Commerce had laid out its opposition to the plans.

In a statement the Chamber wrote that there was not enough affordable housing, but moreover there was not a great commitment to places for people of Frome to find work.

The chamber warned : " Frome is in danger of becoming a commuter town.

"There is very high demand for employment space of all kinds in Frome, especially in the town centre, and that has not decreased since the coronavirus pandemic because Frome is a place you can live and walk to work, and suits modern ways of working. "

In the meeting councillors were told that the current plans offered 22.5% in affordable homes, which in terms of numbers would equate to 67 dwellings.

The first speaker against the original proposal was the leader of Somerset Independents, Andrew Pope who claimed Mendip District Council had wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers money. He told the meeting : "The public do not trust you. The development should be refused because it's out of character. It's over-development." He had earlier told that board that the plans were hated by "everyone".

In addition to supporting statement from Acorn, there was a speaker from a work space company local to Frome who said they are already in talks to take 25,000 square feet of commercial space, to be used by 350 workers.

Andy Jones representing Fair Housing for Frome told the on- line meeting: "The developer is claiming that a far lower rate of affordable housing is essential to maintain the financial viability of the development, but the report uses generalisations and goes on about this being a difficult site to develop without attempting to identify the actual risk. What's required at Saxonvale is a sustainable and flexible development that meets the real needs of the town in the coming decades, not a get rich quick scheme that perpetuates the mistakes of the last century."

The Mendip Planning Board meeting was extended for an additional hour after the standard three hour allowance.

The final vote for the current outline plans for Saxonvale was 11 for and three against, with an amendment asking that planning officers try to negotiate the percentage of affordable housing up to 24 per cent.