There has been an overwhelming positive response to the alternative plans being proposed for the heart of Frome site, Saxonvale, but campaigners admit that they are having to counter the idea that the deal is already done.

Over one hundred people visited an exhibition showing off the alternative plans and sketches on Friday evening - with the display, and members of the design team on hand to answer questions until 4 pm today (May 15).

Jonny Buckland, who runs an architecture practice on the Saxonvale site told Nub News that : " We have had really positive feedback, there is a feeling of wanting to move things forward so we are trying to convince people that it is not already a done deal. We have something here that will be around for a hundred years, so we need to get it right."

The Mayday Saxonvale team have drawn up alternative plans to the development proposed by Acorn - with fewer houses, including an outdoor pool and which will use the existing warehouse structures.

The plans and designs, which campaigners hope to put into Mendip Planning in the next few months can be viewed until 4pm today (May 15) at the Silk Mill, which adjoins the site, said to be the last brownfield development site in Somerset.

Jonny told Nub News : " There is real opportunity here. We have such positive elements to these plans; we are responding to the climate crisis, re-using existing structures to create work and event space, really understanding the needs of the local community. We are also planning on re-housing and moving St John's Primary school (within the site) to a safer, green space."

The main concern from the feedback already gathered is worries about parking - always a big issue in Frome.

Jonny responded : " The majority of the master plan is more car-free. So there will not be so much on site roadside parking, you allow people, and nature to take over the public spaces.

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"We basically believe that re-using existing structures first - should come first - in any building work. There are added benefits too, we keep the industrial heritage of Frome - the warehouses on the site are beautiful if they can be conserved. They can be used to house commercial space, perhaps starting in one part of the space and then growing into a bigger area. This is a very much bottom up approach to developing this site.

" These structures can be opened up to create indoor space and then used all year round, to create another key heart space to the town, that is slightly more pedestrianised and that feels safer. While in between the warehouse structures you can have all kinds of activities, markets perhaps, social events. So the scope of it is big."

Jonny added : " With every construction project it is a long journey and I know that patience is low, and we all want something to happen on the site, but this is something that will be here for over a hundred years, so we need to get it right for our children and our children's children. We need a strategy that the whole community can appreciate."