The first stage of construction work on the Saxonvale site in Frome can begin after nearly £4milion in government grants were confirmed.

Mendip District Council purchased the long-vacant site in August 2018, and has been working with the Acorn Property Group to regenerate the site in a way which boosts the town centre.

The developer was awarded outline planning permission in January to deliver 300 homes, commercial units and public open space – despite large numbers of public objections.

Now initial work to clear the site and prepare the ground for the first new homes can start after the government reaffirmed its support for the scheme.

Homes England is a government agency which provides funding for big infrastructure work (such as new roads or decontamination of brownfield sites) in order to 'unlock' land for new homes and employment.

The agency first awarded the council a grant of £3.935 million back in February 2020, as part of the government's £450 million local authority accelerated construction (LAAC) programme.

Speaking at the time, Homes England senior development manager Mark Glendinning said: "This funding will support the council to accelerate housing delivery by enabling them to prepare this site for development and bring forward the construction of new homes incorporating modern methods of construction."

The Homes England grant will also enable more affordable homes to be delivered on the Saxonvale site than would otherwise have been possible.

A recent viability assessment, carried out for Acorn by JLL, ruled that only 17.5 per cent of the new homes would be affordable – the equivalent of 53 properties.

However, with the Homes England funding in place this will rise to 21 per cent (63 properties) – and could rise further as negotiations between the council and developer continue.

Homes England has now confirmed that the funding will be available to spend until December 31 – allowing "enabling work and site remediation" to begin.

The news was confirmed in papers published before a virtual meeting of the council's audit committee on April 28.

A spokesman for SWAP Internal Audit Services said: "Our Saxonvale audit review was deferred until a decision had been made on the deadline for spending the funding from Homes England.

"This has now been extended until December 2021 and so this audit has been deferred. This will look at what has been spent, the progress made with the project and whether this has been an effective use of the funding."

Balfour Beatty, the developer's chosen contractors, will now begin clearing the former industrial site – including demolishing certain buildings, and clearing construction waste and vegetation.

The council said an ecologist would be present on site at all times to "ensure minimal disturbance to wildlife".

The work will be carried out with strict coronavirus precautions in place, with all staff wearing PPE and social distancing measures throughout the site.

Notice boards will be erected at the entrance to the site to keep the public informed of how the work is progressing.

The council stated in 2020 that it would use "off-site manufacturing technologies" to minimise waste, help to deliver buildings which were most environmentally sustainable and cut down the construction time.

Saxonvale is the latest site in Somerset to benefit from Homes England funding in recent years.

The agency provided South Somerset District Council with £2M in August 2019 to deliver part of a new spine road through the Brimsmore key site, which will deliver 977 homes, shops, a primary school and a care home on the north-western edge of Yeovil.

A further £2.8M was provided to LiveWest to construct 85 affordable homes on the former Powrmatic factory site on Winterhay Lane in Ilminster, which will be completed and released for sale in early-May.

Detailed plans for a further 80 low-cost homes near the Willow Man sculpture in Bridgwater – backed by £15M from Homes England – will be discussed by Sedgemoor District Council's development committee on Tuesday morning (April 27).